Kositany demands Jubilee’s 4-year financial records
Leadership wrangles within the ruling Jubilee Party took a new twist yesterday after the Deputy Secretary General Caleb Kositany wrote to the political outfit demanding financial reports for the last four years.
In a letter to the secretary general Raphael Tuju, Kositany, a key ally of Deputy President William Ruto, said he was writing on behalf of more than 100 MPs and more than 500 members of County Assemblies who are bona fide and paid up members of the party.
In what is likely to reignite the fight for the control of the party between Ruto allies and those behind party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta, the outspoken MP wants the party to respond to his 12 demands within the next seven days.
“I believe the seven days timeline is achievable owing to the fact that the information sought is within your records,” reads the letter which is also copied to the Registrar of Political Parties.
“I hasten to note that previous requisitions of information from myself and/or other members of the party on other matters have been ignored intentionally or otherwise by your office.
May you not ignore this one as well,” wrote Kositany who is also the MP for Soy.
Among the documents the official is seeking include the approved Budgets for the 2016-17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years.
Kositany is also asking for all approved procurement records, reports, and all committee minutes for the five financial years.
Tuju has also been asked to provide certified bank accounts of the Jubilee Party accounts for the financial years in question.
“The SG should also give the Finance and Audit Committee minutes and reports for the five years and the Internal Reports for the same period,” Kositany wrote.
In the letter, Kositany wants a schedule of all party county offices paid for by the party for the five years in question including copies of lease agreements.
Other documents the MP is asking for are, lease or tenancy agreement for the party headquarters and schedule of all rent paid in last five financial years.
Copies of all expenditures incurred and paid for during the five years, schedule of all assets owned by the party and the assets register for the five years should also be availed.
“They should also provide all donations in kind or otherwise from any other party, including Chinese Communist People’s Party, or any other members for the five years,” writes the MP.
Kositany is also asking for a schedule of all contributions by elected and nominated members including MCAs and MPs for the last five years as well as a schedule of all salaries and wages to staff the five years and a schedule of all pending bills.
Jubilee Party received revenues of Sh1.3 billion in the 2016/17 financial year, Sh240 million in 2017/19, and Sh338 million in the 2018/19, meaning that the party has had an income of Sh1.878 billion since 2016.
The revenues are from members’ contributions and allocations from the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
In the 2017/18 financial reports, Mps in the Ruto camp claimed that the party went against the law by spending more than 30 per cent of the allocated budget on administrative costs yet the cap is 30 per cent.
They claim that the party has been spending funds on fictitious political events so as to balance books.
The Ruto camp have threatened to initiate a dissolution process citing misuse of hundreds of millions of taxpayer money.
Further, the faction wants the identity of mysterious individuals whom the party pays Sh67 million as annual rent for the Jubilee headquarters revealed.
They say they had been made to believe that the office space was a campaign gift.
The Auditor-General, in his 2016/2017 report, says that he was not provided with the registered lease agreements for the party offices, despite frequent requests.
Jubilee has an annual rent bill of Sh98 million, of which Sh67 million is for the party headquarters, and the rest for office space in counties, the Auditor-General’s reports indicate.
