Nairobi News

A company owned by former radio queen Angela Angwenyi will be investigated by the National Assembly after the Auditor General questioned why it was awarded a contract for publicity for the Planning department, at a cost of Sh302.46 million.

Ms Angwenyi’s firm, Out of the Box Solutions Ltd, was awarded the contract cited as a sensitisation programme, but according to the Auditor General Edward Ouko, it was a “vague job”.

RADIO CAREER

Ms Angwenyi ended her 10-year radio career on June 26, last when she hosted her final breakfast show on Nation FM.

Planning is a department under the ministry of Devolution. At the time Ms Angwenyi won the contract, the ministry was headed by Anne Waiguru, who bowed to public pressure last year and resigned over a multimillion-shilling corruption scandal at the National Youth Service.

Ms Angwenyi’s company’s job involved providing information to the women, youth and disabled who would benefit from the 30 per cent government procurement reservation under the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) initiative.

NEW TENDERS

To achieve this, the firm was to hold county forums, run media advertisements and create a website and SMS service that would update the groups on new tenders in their respective categories.

The project was to be carried out in phases and after the presentation of an inception report, the firm was to be paid a percentage of the amount.

The latest Auditor General’s report states that officially, the contract was for “consultancy to offer users support services and conduct sensitisation campaigns to enhance access to the 30 per cent reservation of government procurement opportunities for the youth, women and persons with disability”.

But the long title aside, it was a vague job and there was no way of ascertaining whether the schedule of activities set out had been achieved before payment was made, according to Mr Ouko.

MEASURABLE TARGETS

“It was, therefore, possible to make payments as provided in the schedule of activities without the purpose being achieved. Payments ought to be based on achievements of measurable targets of the impact of the sensitisation campaigns,” the Auditor General said in his report.

This was especially the case in a payment of Sh90.74 million made on August 13, 2015, he added.

So suspicious was the bank when the big payment was made from the ministry’s coffers that it asked the Planning Department to confirm, through the Central Bank, whether they had the right client.

“No document was provided for audit to confirm that indeed the beneficiary and details of the payment were meant for Out of the Box Solutions Ltd,” the Auditor-General concluded.

Ms Angwenyi was not available for a comment due to contractual agreement.