How tenderpreneurs siphon off Kenya roadworks billions

Corrupt civil servants and influential businessmen are teaming up with foreign tenderpreneurs to start shell companies that are used to fraudulently obtain government tenders, it has now been revealed.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji says corrupt officials are recruiting foreigners into their web of crime as part of a well-crafted strategy to get off the radar of investigating authorities.

“A company bribes members of a tendering committee to win a contract, after which they deliver substandard goods or services,” Mr Haji said during a city meeting with religious leaders last month.

“On follow-up, you find that the company is owned by three individuals. The first director is a Kenyan, the second director is a foreigner, while the third principal is a shell company that is owned by a foreign company that has neither an office nor a single employee,” Mr Haji added.

The DPP said that investigating fraud cases involving foreign companies is a tough duty mainly due to the lack of enough evidence.

“Investigating foreign entities is not easy. The DPP writes to the Attorney General (AG) of Kenya, who subsequently writes to the Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary. The CS writes to the ambassador of the respective country, who then writes to his/her country’s AG. The AG writes to the respective DPP who then moves to court to ask for consent to investigate the suspect,” Mr Haji says.

READ: Israel’s richest woman implicated in Kenya roads tender fraud

However, the DPP says he is devising a new strategy to rein in corrupt individuals who have made it difficult for the government to move forward with plans for mega projects across the country.

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