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Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe appeared before National Assembly Public Investments Committee (PIC) on Thursday, April 29, 2021 to clear his name over his alleged involvement in Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) scandal.
While appearing before the National Assembly Public Investments Committee (PIC), Murathe denied all the allegations leveled against him over the KEMSA scandal.
During the presentation session, Jubilee Vice-Chairman claimed that Kilig Limited had changed its ownership to the close associates of Deputy President William Ruto adding that he did not benefit from the Ksh.
Murathe also added that the tender
process was cancelled, and that he was only a signatory to the bank accounts of
Kilig, and his role was to assure that the firm would be paid once the tender
process was completed.
PIC Chairman Mvita MP Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, however,
argued that Murathe’s claims were unsubstantiated despite him presenting
letters and other evidence to prove his allegations.
“This is the first time I
have seen one company with different bank signatures. One by Murathe another by
Ruto’s associate. There is more than meets the eye here. I will write to the
bank and KEMSA and ask them to provide all evidence as one of these letters
indicates that Kilig revived the tender once it was cancelled,” MP Nassir
said.
At that point, Murathe lost his cool, raised his voice and
asked the MP to read all the letters and understand that once the tender was
cancelled, he ceased to be a signatory.
Wajir East MP Rashid Kassim, questioned Murathe’s motives
behind being a signatory, arguing that the Jubilee Vice-Chairman was economical
with the truth.
The lawmaker probed Murathe on whether he was aware that he
was guaranteeing payment of supply of personal protective equipment (PEPs)
worth Ksh 4 billion and that the amount was almost half of KAMSA’s Ksh 7.8
billion budget.
“I was not aware of the amount involved. I was not aware
that the Ksh4 billion I guaranteed was nearly the whole amount of KEMSA budget.
Once the tender was cancelled, I never benefited from any deal,” Murathe
defended himself and accused the MP of being Ruto associate.
The remarks by Murathe sparked uproar in the house forcing Nassir to call the hearing to order and asked Murathe to apologise.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino who appeared to defend Murathe accused Rashid of politicising the matter.
“These MPs are Tanga Tanga and we all know that. MP Rashid is politicising this investigation. He is perceiving Murathe to be guilty yet he is not. I am defending Murathe because the truth is that there was no Ksh. 4 billion involved in this case, and Murathe was not given any money as claimed,” Babu said.
The jubilee Vice Chairman dismissed claims of being involved in the KEMSA scandal noting that he has never supplied any Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
“It’s very sad that some of us are treated as poster boys of the scandal. I have never supplied any mask and even my relatives are thinking I am a Covid billionaire. People are calling me asking me to give them money,” Murathe stated.
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