MP Moses Kuria's Brother Among Relatives Illegally Awarded KSh100 Million Tenders

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria could find himself in trouble with authorities after new details merged showing that he awarded multi-million-shilling contracts to members of his family contrary to the law.

Moses Kuria's brother, Aloise Kinyanjui Kuria, is among the MP’s close relatives that were allegedly awarded Constituency Development Funds (CDF) tenders amounting to KSh100 million, according to a report by Daily Nation.

Finish Line Construction Ltd, a company that Aloise co-owns with Mr. Sammy Kamau, is among 14 companies that were awarded 31 contracts from the Gatundu South Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty in Kuria's first term as MP. The company, which was established in October 2014, was allegedly paid KSh5.7 million to build four classrooms at Ituuru High School.

Further to this, the company tenders for works at Wamwangi, Karinga, Githaruru and Gikure Secondary Schools in 2015. A search at the company registry revealed that Aloise owns 50 percent of the company with Sammy Kamau owning the remaining half.

Sources told Daily Nation that Aloise, who is an officer at Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kiambu County, was often seen around the Gatundu South NG-CDF office. It was alleged that although he was not a member of the CDF committee, he was quite influential in its affairs.

Chapter 12 of the Public Officer Ethics Act bars a public officer "from awarding a contract or influencing the award of a contract to himself, a spouse or relative, business associate or a corporation, partnership or any other body which the officer has an interest."

Contacted for comment on the claims, MP Kuria said he does not sit on the CDF committee and as such, could not be blamed for the suspicious tender awards.

"The National-Government Constituency Development Fund Act does not allow MPs to be in charge of the fund, meaning they are not involved in the management of CDF. I don't understand why I'm being linked to the dishing out of CDF contracts.”

“Each of the 290 constituencies has a CDF management committee inaugurated by the National Assembly and which oversees the day-to-day running of the fund," he responded.

Other MP Kuria’s relatives who allegedly won tenders through their companies include James Kogi Kuria, John Ngigi Kuria, Stanley Kuria Ngugi, Stephen Kamau Wamutwe and Jane Wambui Kuria.