Jubilee administration spent Ksh3B on bribing lawmakers to pass government bills
Jubilee administration spent Ksh3B on bribing lawmakers to pass government bills according to Former Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow.
Billow Kerrow, a former senator from Mandera, asserted that the Jubilee administration used bribes to get its legislation through Parliament at a time when it was under intense pressure from the opposition.
In 2015, it was claimed that the government, which was then headed by William Ruto and former president Uhuru Kenyatta, spent Ksh3 billion to bribe parliamentarians.
Kerrow, who presided over the Senate’s budget committee, said that the administration had outsourced out the Treasury’s unbudgeted cash.
He recalled this while speaking at the Senate induction retreat in Naivasha on Thursday, September 22.
“The parliamentary committee for budget and appropriations was given Ksh3 billion so that they could approve some things, and we spent a whole afternoon in Senate discussing how the National Assembly could accept to be bribed.
“Treasury, which always works in coalition with the National Assembly provided a bribe, and I’ll use that because it was a headline in the local media at that time,” Kerrow added.
The legislator also emphasized that lack of transparency was one of the biggest weaknesses in the Treasury while highlighting the Goldenberg Scandal, which he claimed was orchestrated without discovery.
The government of Uhuru and Ruto in their first term made headlines as suspicions of misusing taxpayer funds surfaced.
From Eurobond I and II scandals, the National Youth Service, and the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency.
Additionally, it was charged with exaggerating road projects and engaging in dubious, contentious business dealings, like the Standard Gauge Railway.
“Budget transparency is very important and I think it is a matter that I think we should always focus on because items should be itemized and be very clear, and that is what the principles the Public Service Management Act provides,” Kerrow remarked.
Following the incident, Kerrow questioned the independence of the Budget Committee arguing that it was to be blamed for opaque financial budgets.
“That shows you the degree at which the Treasury sometimes go to try and influence the legislature in the same way that county governors will try and influence the county assembly so that they can get a few things included,” the former senator exclaimed.
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