Wajir MCAs accuse Mohamud of using bogus tenders to steal Sh502m
Hillary Mageka @hillarymageka
Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mahamud used proxies and fictitious companies to award himself and his allies lucrative tenders amounting to more than Sh502 million, Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) have claimed.
In addition, the governor, his wife Kheira Omar, and county executives allegedly mismanaged more than Sh2.4 billion allocated to the department of medical services, public health and sanitation.
The amount was allocated by the County Assembly in the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.
Despite being allocated an additional Sh194 million in the supplementary budget to help contain the spread of the Covid-19, the only County’s referral hospital laboratory which also serves the region cannot conduct a test of the disease due to faulty test kits and lack of reagents, the impeachment motion says.
These are some of grounds put forward by the Wajir County Assembly to uphold the impeachment of Governor Mahamud.
A charge sheet seen by People Daily on Wednesday detailed alleged instances of abuse of office and gross misconduct and gross violation of the Constitution.
According to Elnur/TulaTula Ward MCA Abdullahi Issack, the mover of the motion, the governor mismanaged the entire budget appropriated for basic health services.
“This is evidenced by the public outcry after widely circulated incident in Eldas Constituency where a desperate caller who wanted to save a life was asked to buy tires and fuel for the county ambulance,” reads one of the charges.
“The department admitted unequivocally this allegation in response to a statement by the MCA for Eldas Ward tabled on the floor of the House through the sectoral committee for Public Health and Medical Services,” the motion adds.
The ward representatives claim the governor used his office to improperly and irregularly influence awards of multimillion tenders on various dates between June 2018 and October 2020 amounting to Sh502 million.
This includes the irregular award of contract for construction of 60,000 M3 mega pan at Shimbirey to Ms FATCO Construction and Transporters limited at a sum of Sh34 million.
“This company had a lesser experience in water construction than the other bidders,” the charge sheet reads.
