DID KENHA DG ENG. MUNDINIA FINANCE KENYAN-SOMALI MPs TRIP TO MOGADISHU?

The trip to Somalia totally undermined Kenya's Foreign Policy and was a spat in the face of President Uhuru Kenyatta. To say the least, the trip badly embarrassed the Kenyan political establishment and the scandal has been under investigations since then.

KeNHA DG Eng. Peter Mundinia

Could the Director-General of Kenya National Highways Authority, KeNHA Eng. Peter Mundinia have intentionally or otherwise financed a trip to Somalia by MPs from three Northern Kenya counties? Maybe not.

The trip to Somalia totally undermined Kenya's Foreign Policy and was a spat in the face of President Uhuru Kenyatta. To say the least, the trip badly embarrassed the Kenyan political establishment and the scandal has been under investigations since then.

Kenyan-Somali MPs disembark
 from the plane at JKIA

The ethnic Kenyan-Somali MPs unauthorised and secretive visit to Somali in February was the most trending topic in the country before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the story deep inside newspaper pages and social media platforms. The secret visit to Somali was made by MPs from Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties. The trip was made without clearance from National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi's Office and without the knowledge of any Official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 11 Kenyan MPs who made the trip which embarrassed the entire Kenyan government machinery, was made by MP Kullow Maalim (Banisa), Ahmed Kolosh (Wajir West), Ibrahim Abdi (Lafey), Rashid Kassim (Wajir East), Mohamed Hire (Lagdera), Omar Maalim (Mandera East), Bashir Abdullahi (Mandera North), Adan Haji (Mandera West), Dr Hassan Dahiye (Daadab), Ahmed Bashane (Tarbaj) and Aden Keynan (Eldas).

The MPs visited Somalia at a time the two neighbouring countries were and are still locked in a diplomatic tiff over the maritime border dispute and the war on terror, raising eyebrows within the Kenya security circles.

Mr Ahmed Kolosh the MP for Wajir West and Omar Maalim, Mandera East constituencies are of interest here. It has been suggested elsewhere that they were the main financiers and that they facilitated the chartering of the aircraft that carried the group on the controversial trip to Mogadishu.

Kolosh and Omar are said to be great friends to one of Kenya’s top technocrat, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Director-General Engineer Peter Mundinia.

Hardly a week goes by without one of them paying Eng. Mundinia a visit, mostly to seek for financial support, and since it’s a known fact that the two MPs are not listed among the wealthiest people in town, it begs the question as to whether the KeNHA boss could have financed the trip to Mogadishu.

If and when the ongoing investigations is successfully concluded, with recommendations to punish the MPs in one form or another, it will be interesting to see what form of punishment the system may dispense out against the DG, since he is a known financier to at least two of those who made the illegal trip.

The investigations into the Somalia scandal is being carried out simultaneously by the DCI and other investigative arms of government.

KeNHA is awash with international donor cash, it seems that the money is not being channelled into the right projects to benefit the Kenyan public, hence the attraction from some MPs, probably seeking a share of the pie.

It is on record that sometimes ago, the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK), of which Eng. Mundinia is a member, petitioned the government to probe alleged bribery in awarding of tenders to contractors at KeNHA.