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Kabura: I loaned ‘my friend’ Sh60m in cash without security


The National Youth Service (NYS) scandal chief suspect Josephine Kabura stunned Members of Parliament on Tuesday morning when she admitted that she loaned another suspect Sh60 million without any security.

Ms Kabura, who refused to answer most of the questions during the explosive session with the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, said that she handed the money in cash to Mr John Kago.

Mr Kago is a driver with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and was grilled last week. She said she got an interest of 10 per cent.

PHOTO | CORRESPONDENT
PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE

However, pressed on how much she got in interest, Ms Kabura was unable to provide a figure, forcing committee chairman Nicholas Gumbo to threaten to declare her a hostile witness.

Ms Kabura further said she registered about 20 companies and was the sole proprietor.

Ms Kabura said she received the mega contracts through former Devolution minister Anne Waiguru, who resigned after she was implicated in the scandal.

Ms Kabura is a key suspect in the Sh791 million NYS saga.

The witness further shocked MPs with various disclosures including a claim that she paid suppliers Sh52 million in cash and did not get any receipts.

Ms Kabura irked MPs when she claimed that she carried Sh52 million in person without any help and took it to a quarry in Ongata Rongai. When asked if she got receipts she said, “no”.

The suspect further confessed that she has never field tax returns with the Kenya Revenue Authority despite pocketing Sh1.6 billion from the NYS contracts.

PHOTO | CORRESPONDENT
PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE

She also said she had no documentation on how much tax she paid to KRA from the transactions. “I was in the process of filing,” said Ms Kabura.

Legally, people with Personal Identification Numbers are supposed to file returns by June 30 of every year.

The fine for not filing returns by June is Sh10,000 or five per cent of tax due whichever is higher and additional interest of two per cent per month compounded.

At some point, Ms Kabura was hard pressed to explain how she managed to carry Sh100 million in cash without any help.

“That’s 100kg. Put differently, that’s five jerrycans. Can you carry five jerrycans?” posed Public Accounts Committee chairman Nicholas Gumbo.

“Yes, I can carry five jerrycans,” answered Ms Kabura, sending the MPs into fits of laughter.

Later, she claimed to have understood just one jerrycan.

It also emerged that before she was paid Sh24 million by NYS, she had just Sh650 in her account.