Nairobi — The Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning is set to commence an inquiry into the disbursement of Sh6 billion to Telkom Kenya to facilitate the exit of Helios Investment Partners.
The Committee led by Molo MP Kimani Kuria in particular seeks to establish if the law was followed in the disbursement of the money under Article 223 of the Constitution.
“The Legislators also seek to establish the regulatory and statutory approval granted by the Communication Authority of Kenya and Capital Markets Authority for the acquisition of Telkom shares by Jamhuri Holding Limited,” read a Committee brief.
The Committee through a report recently recommended the disapproval of the disbursement which happened in August 2022, but whose approval was sought in January 2023.
The implication of the recommendation which was carried out by the House, is that the disbursement remains unapproved, hence the need for the Committee to conduct the probe to ascertain if there was a loss of taxpayers’ money through the transaction.
The Committee also aims to determine if former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, former Principal Secretary Julius Muia, and the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o undertook due diligence when processing the transaction.
“Besides these former and serving officials, the Committee has enlisted the Attorney General, Telkom Management, Jamhuri Holding Limited, Communication Authority of Kenya, Capital Marketing Authority, and the Kenya Revenue Authority to appear before the Committee to aid the inquiry,” read the Statement from the Committee.
The probe comes days after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said public coffers were raided by the officials as the Supreme Court case against their victory was going on.
“Two days before elections, they stole Sh6 billion and pretended to sell some shares from Telkom. When there was a case before the Supreme Court, they stole another Sh10 billion purportedly to pay some contractors,” he said during the dinner at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nairobi
The Treasury acquired a 60 percent stake in Telkom Kenya from a UK-based private equity fund, Helios Investment Partners, for Sh6.09 billion in October 2022, making the company fully State-owned.
Documents tabled in Parliament show the purchase was one of the strings of expenditures that the Treasury incurred without the approval of Parliament in the weeks to the inauguration of President William Ruto on September 13.
Telkom Kenya, which is Kenya’s third-biggest telecommunications company by users, has been losing subscribers in recent years.