Philemon Kiprop Kandie, Director General of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), may face legal troubles after an activist filed a petition accusing him of corruption and the irregular misuse of Sh4.6 billion in taxpayer funds intended for constructing and maintaining rural roads.
Francis Awino, President of the Bunge la Mwananchi organization, is requesting that the Constitutional and Human Rights Division declare Kandie unfit to hold public office due to allegations of misuse.
Awino also accuses Kandie of misappropriating funds and engaging in fraudulent practices in awarding multi-billion shilling tenders for road upgrades at the state corporation.
“A declaration the respondent(Kandie) is unfit to hold any public office because he has grossly violated the constitution and other laws and is guilty of gross misconduct,” states the activist.
The KeRRA boss has also been accused of violating procurement laws in the awarding of tenders and embezzling taxpayer funds through a calculated conspiracy with politically connected individuals.
In the petition, Awino details how Kandie, who was barred by the High Court last year from serving as Director General of KeRRA, has refused to vacate the office. Awino claims that Kandie has continued to engage in illegal and unlawful activities, leading to significant corruption scandals at the state agency.
“There was illegal, unlawful, and irregular misuse of taxpayer’s money a fact that was actually confirmed by the Auditor General’s report leading to suspension of Kandie by the court in late May 2023 by Employment and Labour Court Justice James Rika who also found that the process of his recruitment was marred by procedural impropriety and quashed his appointment ,” Awino argues
According to the petition, Kandie has continued to serve as Director General of KeRRA despite the High Court’s ruling barring him from holding the office. The High Court had previously determined that the process used to appoint Kandie was unconstitutional, but his appeal to the Court of Appeal was declined.
Awino alleges that during his tenure, Kandie has facilitated fraud by awarding road upgrading tenders to firms with the highest bid prices, thus disadvantaging companies with lower bids.
The petitioners claim that Kandie committed procurement fraud by irregularly awarding a tender to the India-based firm M/s Shengi Engineering Constructions, with a bid amount of Sh4,692,818,332, instead of M/s Guanxi Hydroelectric, which had submitted the lowest bid of Sh3,964,406,845 as per regulations.
Court documents reveal that one of the firms contesting the tender was over-quoted by Sh1 billion. Kandie allegedly intended to favor the highest bidder, particularly in cases where the difference in tender amounts exceeded Sh1 billion.
All bidders, except for one whose financial bid in Tender No. RWC 652 was below the estimated budget, submitted bids significantly above the project budgets, exceeding the estimates by over Sh1 billion.
