‘Hustler’ Cabinet nominees reveal stunning wealth
President William Ruto’s first five Cabinet Secretary nominees are collectively worth Sh6.1 billion, it emerged yesterday.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Vetting, the nominees to the “Hustler nation” Cabinet revealed that their wealth arose from the shares they hold in various listed companies, the value of their property and income from farming.
Former Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudvadi — the nominee for the Prime Cabinet Secretary position — said his net worth stands at Sh4 billion.
Mudavadi was the first to appear before the panel chaired by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.
Justin Muturi, he nominee for the position of Attorney-General, revealed that he is worth Sh700 million while Garissa Township MP Aden Duale, who has been nominated for the position of Defence Cabinet Secretary, said he is worth Sh851 million, making him the second wealthiest in the group that was interviewed yesterday.
Former Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua — who has been earmarked for the position of the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary — said he is worth Sh420 million while Kandara MP Alice Wahome, the Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary nominee is worth Sh218 million, the lowest in yesterday’s cohort.
Mutua, however, found himself in an awkward situation after a committee member, Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, questioned the value of his wealth saying a hotel he owns in Machakos could be valued more than the Sh420 million he had declared.
“Is the A& L Hotel in Machakos yours, and if so how much is it worth?” asked Junet.
Mutua said the hotel was built on loan and hence he could not include it as part of his assets.
Unfairly linked
Earlier, Mudavadi said his investments include rental income from various properties, dividends from shares and an aircraft hiring company among other business interests.
“If I take my investment in shares in some companies and also properties that I own I would put my net worth at about Sh4 billion,” he said.
When asked by leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah whether he would forfeit some of his assets like aircraft should the government declare interest in them, Mudavadi said he would be willing to forfeit them if the right channels are followed.
“The process of acquiring assets is provided for in law, I will make sure if this is done, I will not interfere and use my office to influence such awards,” he said.
He also said he will follow the law while carrying out his job and exonerated himself from any corruption scandals, such as the Goldenberg and the Nairobi Cemetery land scams, saying he had been cleared of wrongdoing in all of these cases.
“I am a strong believer in confronting corruption head-on,” he said in his own defence.
On the Goldenberg scandal, he told the committee that at a youthful age of 33, he inherited the scam at the Treasury at its tail end and that some of the transactions were made behind his back.
“I was, therefore, unjustly linked to it. However, a judicial commission of inquiry set up in 2003 by a new regime under President Mwai Kibaki exonerated me and lauded me for scuttling the fraud once I settled in office,” he said.
On the cemetery scandal, he said he faced a politically instigated investigation by the then Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) over the Sh283 million scam that involved the then City Council of Nairobi buying land valued at Sh24 million for nearly Sh300 million. He said he was not aware of the transaction.
“I protested my innocence and as it would turn out, KACC had been unfair in linking me to the scandal without giving me a chance to rebut any allegation. I would like to go on record that I was not involved in any way in the conspiracy to defraud the Nairobi City Council. Indeed, the culprits were tried and jailed,” he said.
Civil servant remuneration
When it was his turn in the hot seat, Muturi explained that his income is derived from farming and consultancies even as he clarified that at the moment, his income is derived from the pension he is earning after serving as Speaker of the National Assembly for 10 years.
“I’m a modest public servant with a net worth of about Sh700 million from farming and legal consultancy,” Muturi said.
His net worth has, however, grown by around Sh400 million from November last year when he was worth only Sh300 million.
Muturi said that most of his property was acquired through bank loans and civil servant remuneration over the 36 years of his career.
The former National Assembly speaker was, however, at pains to explain reports that he had been charged in court while serving as a magistrate before joining politics.
In his response, Muturi said when the matter went to court, he was found with no case to answer while an appeal filed by the then Attorney General was also dismissed.
Duale on the other hand said his wealth was derived from rentals, shares and livestock, mainly camel rearing.
He said his monthly income stands at Sh10 million, which comes from rentals in different parts of the country.
“I am a simple farmer drawing income from rentals and shares in various listed companies. I am also a farmer doing well in camel rearing,” Duale told the team which has until October 27 to conclude the vetting of all the nominees. Five others are expected to appear before it today.
