David Okwembah
7 November 2009
Nairobi — Questions on the actual cost of the new official government vehicle the Volkswagen Passat are expected to feature on Monday when Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
While PAC says the vehicle should not cost more than Sh2 million without duty, CMC Motors, who are the suppliers, say the lowest it can charge for the Passat duty-free is Sh2.55 million.
The real owners of the motor company are also expected to feature prominently at Monday's meeting. The company is chaired by a former chief secretary during President Moi's tenure, Mr Jeremiah Kiereini, and its directors include former Attorney-General Charles Njonjo.
Also to feature prominently is why the vehicles' supplier paid duty for the 130 vehicles when it was clearly known they belong to the government.
Sources close to PAC indicate the committee has a document showing that a middle range Volkswagen Passat, slightly superior to the one supplied to the Kenya Government, was sold to the United States for US$26,500 (about Sh2 million).
On the other hand, Kenya is paying almost double the amount US$50,200 (Sh3,765,000) for the Passat 1.8 TSi automatic. Mr Kenyatta and the PS are also expected to answer questions regarding a policy by his predecessor, Mr Amos Kimunya, who recalled fuel guzzlers two years ago.
On Friday, PAC, chaired by Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale, met with officials of Mars Group led by its executive director Mwalimu Mati to get their views on the Passat contract. Dr Khalwale confirmed that the top officials of Treasury will appear before the parliamentary watchdog committee on Monday at 2.30 pm.
At Treasury, both Kenyatta and Kinyua were tight-lipped on what defence they will offer to the Dr Khalwale committee. The PS is reported to be out of the country on official business while the minister did not respond to our queries.
A procurement officer at Treasury, a Mr Nyamwange, declined to comment on the matter saying it may pre-empt what Mr Kenyatta will tell PAC at Parliament Buildings on Monday. But the chief executive of CMC Motors, Mr Martin Forster, termed the hullaballoo about the Passat tender as political.
He said the tender was advertised last year in September by the Ministry of Works and many companies, including CMC Motors, D.T. Dobie, Simba Colt Motors, General Motors and Toyota Kenya, participated in the tender. "We received a letter saying that the government would buy the Passat and Land-Rover from us," Mr Forster said.
He said the price his company was quoting to the government was for last year, noting that the company had been able to maintain this because of the negligible rise of the Euro as compared to other currencies in the world.
Despite putting in a strong defence for his company, the Sunday Nation established that the government was determined to get out of the Mercedes Benz deal at whatever cost. According to one Treasury official who sat on the committee that was sourcing for a model 1800 cc vehicle for the government, Mercedes Benz was not one of their options.
But in Parliament, Mr Kenyatta is expected to face a hostile committee that believes the Passat deal was over-priced. The committee will be seeking answers on what happened to the cars that the government repossessed after Mr Kimunya's order two years ago. Many MPs have criticised the manner in which the vehicles repossessed during Mr Kimunya's tenure were handled by the government.
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