Embattled
Labour, Social Security and Services cabinet secretary Kazungu Kambi who has of
late been embroiled in controversies has been caught in yet another saga where he is working in
cahoots with one Ken Karisa to mint millions of shillings from unsuspecting
Chinese investors and prominent local and international businessmen.
According
to sources privy to the syndicate, Karisa who is a close ally of Kambi has
his phone number recorded in Kambi’s
phone as Uhuru Kenyatta.
The
con game is played in a manner that whenever Kambi has a meeting with investors
or prominent businessmen, he signals Karisa to call him and Kambi would excuse
himself to speak to the most powerful man in the country. He would even display
his phone so that they see for themselves that it was Uhuru. He excuses himself
running far end in the office corner in the pretext the president has called
him and needs to be in private. As he goes, his visitors are convinced the
cabinet secretary is so close to State House and has to be consulted on regular
basis.
He
would then retreat back claiming he had a serious conversation with the
president and claim that the president was inviting him for a harambee. He
would then ask the unsuspecting investors to chip in towards the presidential
harambee. The unsuspecting investors would then contribute towards the harambee
but the money ends up in Kambi’s pockets.
Of
late, there have been concerns that those appointed on URP side in plum
government positions are forced to contribute towards harambees as a payback.
DP William Ruto has been contributing close to Sh10 million a week on the
purported fundraisers. The deputy president is a close ally of Kambi. Word has
it that the said investors happen to be close to Ruto and if Kambi invokes the
DP’s name they will put him off in the pretext that they have already dealt
with the DP and hence they are aware of the harambee.
Kambi has been involved in bruising NSSF wars
involving multi-billion construction projects. A section in Jubilee are
allegedly out to siphon billions from the workers money as it used to happen
during the Moi era to tame political opposition. Already, we have established
that NSSF has lost close to Sh1.7billion public money between the months of
January and June this year.
Due
to corrupt deals at NSSF, the future of the controversial construction of the
62-storey building in Nairobi now hangs in the balance after investors snubbed
an invite to participate in the project. Investors fear being associated with
corruption as it is bound to taint their image locally and internationally.
They
are also concerned with the state’s move to control the institution. Word has
it that Uhuru signed the Finance Bill to have workers have a say on NSSF board
after being advised investors were shunning NSSF projects due to lack of
transparency and behind-the-scenes operations with kickbacks being asked in
advance by key players.
This
is the second time investors have
shunned the Sh20 billion project forcing the NSSF board to go back and think
twice. Sources say NSSF invited investors to partner with it in the
construction project planned to host conference halls, a five-star hotel and
rental apartments. Industry analysts aver that it only received one proposal.
This shows all is not well at the fund. This is happening as Ruto has openly
come out to state the Jubilee government will push for implementation of new
NSSF rates which contributors say is suspect.
It
is said, due to its bad image among investors, the fund’s move to exit View
Park Towers and Hazina all located in the city centre through sales has hit a
snag. Lack of offers that matched its valuation and fear of corrupt deals has
rendered the sale irrelevant. Investors are not interested in NSSF deals
because of underhand deals that top management and other key players out to
make a kill are involved in.
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