Freedom's Here ....Kenya Pipeline Gang Are Next....

News & Politics
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[SIZE=7]Freedom for Joe Sang, Kenya Pipeline managers as court drops Kisumu Oil Jetty case[/SIZE]
Wednesday, December 07, 2022

By Joseph Wangui

Court Reporter

Nation Media Group

The Sh1.9 billion Kisumu Oil Jetty project was well planned and no public funds were lost, the Anti-Corruption Court in Nairobi has ruled while dismissing graft-related charges filed by the State against former Kenya Pipeline Managing Director Joe Sang and five top ex-managers.

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Former Kenya Pipeline Company Managing Director Joe Sang.

The former managers include Company Secretary Gloria Khafafa, Head of Procurement Vincent Cheruiyot, Nicholas Gitobu (General Manager Finance), Samuel Odonyo (Procurement Manager) and Billy Letuya Aseka (General Manager Infrastructure).

Magistrate Victor Wakumile said Wednesday that there was no evidence to support criminal charges including abuse of office, engaging in a project without prior planning and willful failure to comply with guidelines relating to the management of public funds.

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The court found that the procurement was not flawed as alleged by the prosecution and that the project was undertaken within the planned financial budget.

The court case sprung from the construction of the pipeline at a cost of Sh2 billion and the award of the contract to Southern Engineering Company Ltd. Investigators had alleged that there was corruption and loss of funds during construction of the pipeline.

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The Sh.1.9 billion Kenya Pipeline Corporation oil jetty in Kisumu on May 13, 2019.

The project was aimed at improving the reliability of fuel supply to Uganda, Rwanda and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and facilitating safe transportation of oil for the various marketers over Lake Victoria to neighboring countries. Another goal was to eliminate hundreds of fuel trucks from the roads.

[SIZE=6]Witnesses, prior planning[/SIZE]
Mr Wakumile said Mr Sang and former managers arraigned in court delivered the project. He also noted that witnesses produced in court by the prosecution were consistent that there were no malpractices or irregularities.
The magistrate said the project was planned for in 2006 and the same was contained in KPC’s strategic plan for 2009/2010 and 2011. The project was also contained in the company’s Vision 2025, said the magistrate while dismissing the prosecution’s argument that Mr Sang and the former managers engaged in the project without prior planning.

“I find that all prosecution witnesses were unanimous that the construction of Kisumu Oil Jetty was indeed planned before construction and way back in 2006 before most of the accused persons were employed by Kenya Pipeline Company,” said the magistrate.
He found that the charge of engaging in unplanned project was defective both in law and facts.
“The entire case against all accused collapses under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and they are now acquitted,” said Mr Wakumile.
The court noted that the witnesses said that Kisumu oil jetty was a multi-year project and received funding from the National Treasury in two financial years: 2016 and 2017. He said that the fund allocation was in two tranches of Sh1.4 billion and Sh500 million.
Among the prosecution witnesses was Mr John Ngumi, former board chair of KPC, who confirmed to the court that he signed for implementation of the project.

[SIZE=6]Bosses appointed after implementation[/SIZE]
The court noted that the project had been in KPC’s plans since 2006 and that most witnesses, including Mr Ngumi, had confirmed that the project was implemented way before most of the accused joined the company.

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Mr John Ngumi.

Mr Sang was appointed MD in 2016 when plans for undertaking the project were already in place. Similarly, the other accused persons were appointed to their respective positions at the state corporation when the project was in the implementation stage.
Hence, the court held that they should not have been charged over actions committed prior to their appointment.

Mr Ngumi also testified that the project was initiated through a supplementary budget in the financial year 2016/17. He further told the court that the project and budget were approved by the National Treasury and the Ministry of Energy.
The magistrate also noted that no payment was made to the contractor beyond the approved budget of Sh1.9 billion and that each payment was made within the budget.

[SIZE=6]All procurement steps followed [/SIZE]
The court also threw out claims that Mr Sang illegally authorized payments for the project.
While acquitting Mr Sang of charges of abuse of office, the court said that all procurement steps were followed during the implementation of the project.
In addition, the project was approved on seven different levels including by the chief engineer, senior engineer, project manager, procurement manager, infrastructure manager, general manager finance and the MD.
The court found that Mr Sang, as the MD, followed all procurement steps when awarding the tender and sought for expert and professional opinion before awarding the tender to Southern Engineering Company Limited.

Mr Wakumile also found that the court could not punish the accused persons for alleged violation of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.

He said according to the Act, non-compliance with the procurement regulations calls for internal disciplinary actions.

The prosecution had argued that it was illegal to commence the project through a supplementary budget.
The former KPC officials were accused to have committed the offenses between June 2016 and June 2017. They were charged in 2019.

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If you ever practiced procurement na ushikwe ukiiba wewe ni mjinga.
That document aka Procurement Act and it’s accompanying regulation has so many loop holes to ensure single sourcing; if lowest bidder not preffered then unamsakia reason with sufficient evidence na you give your preffered supplier. It’s argued “low” is not always best with reasons.

Secondly, the lowest bidder may not actually reflect the true market price. A biro might be 10 bob kwa streets but supplier amekazana na 50 bob a piece and that’s the lowest bidder…

Procurement is a reserve of govt and parastals, serious companies esp private companies practice a different kind of procurement that is very thorough…ata ukibribe the cost margins profits must be realised by the buying entity that you’ll tell directors how much you saved.

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Practicing what we say is Hard!.. :D:D:D:D

[MEDIA=twitter]1602217122188464130[/MEDIA] [MEDIA=twitter]1599139979372158979[/MEDIA]

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[SIZE=7]CEO Blocked From Govt Office Days After Suspension Was Lifted[/SIZE]
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[li]By ROBINSON NDUNGU on 3 February 2023 - 4:13 pm[/li]
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Kenya Pipeline Company Acting Managing Director Joe Sang
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The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) on Friday, February 3, obtained orders to revoke the appointment of Joe Sang as the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company, two weeks after he was reinstated.

While announcing the development, LSK President Eric Theuri noted that the orders gave a nod for the Kenya Pipeline board to appoint an acting MD.

“The LSK obtains orders suspending the appointment of Joe Sang as acting MD Kenya Pipeline. The board has been granted the liberty to appoint acting MD from amongst the senior management at the Corporation," Theuri stated.

The lawyers’ umbrella body had moved to court challenging the decision of the KPC board to reinstate Sang as the MD.

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LSK President Eric Theuri during a past press conference

KPC’s board announced his appointment as the Managing Director in an acting capacity on January 23, a month after he was acquitted from a case implicating him in a Ksh1.97 billion scandal and the company.

His tribulations as the MD of KPC date back to 2018, when he was compelled to step down from his role after the allegations implicating him and five other managers in the corruption scandal.

Sang left his position under dramatic circumstances at the height of the disquiet in the former Jubilee administration.

In December 2022, he appeared to have finally managed to shake off his tribulations after the Anti-Corruption Court acquitted him and his co-accused from the charges, citing a lack of evidence.

One month after his acquittal, KPC’s board of directors announced his appointment - terming his return as a major boost in its endeavours to soar back into profit-making.

In a statement from KPC, board chair Faith Bett noted that the company had registered a record-high profit during Sang’s earlier stint as the MD from 2016 to 2018.

As such, the board chair expressed confidence in the decision to revert to Sang’s services amid plummeting profit in the past years.

“Sang’s brief but highly effective tenure at KPC saw remarkable changes in the management and performance of the State Corporation,” the chair noted in justifying his appointment.

However, his appointment sparked protests from a section of Kenyans who were opposed to the series of withdrawal of graft cases by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

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