Ex-dock officials decry plot against KPA boss

Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director William Ruto. [File, Standard]

Former Dock Workers Union (DWU) officials and a section of Mijikenda elders have alleged a plot to tarnish the reputation of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director, William Ruto, to have him removed from office.

Addressing the press in Mombasa County, the former DWU officials and the elders claimed that firms that lost tenders at the port were behind the campaign against Captain Ruto.

Former DWU officials Paul Abisa and Wycliffe Barasa urged those with evidence of corruption at the port to submit it to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
"We are happy that port performance is at its highest and small-scale supplies and special groups are being awarded tenders and are benefiting from the port unlike in the past. We are opposed to unnecessary tender wars that are meant to distract KPA management from performing its duties," said Abisa.

Early this month, an activist filed a petition at the High Court in Mombasa seeking the ouster of Ruto over irregularities in a Sh31 billion tender.

Francis Awino, the president of the Bunge la Mwananchi lobby, claims investigations by civic actors revealed that the tender was tainted by collusion, abuse of discretion, concealment of procurement details, and the undue exclusion of local expertise and oversight, violating both constitutional and statutory principles.

Awino, as per the suit, claims that in the year 2024, under the stewardship of Ruto, KPA awarded a Sh31.2 billion contract to TOA Corporation, a Japanese construction firm, to undertake works on the Mombasa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Development Project.

The project, he states, was financed under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)'s Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan scheme through the STEP framework-an arrangement whose special conditions require competitive procurement and full transparencyy. He said reports from the National Action Against Corruption (NAAC) disclosed a massive corruption ring within the KPA Electrical Department, led by Eng. Mathews Amuti.

"The syndicate reportedly solicited kickbacks, bribes, and double payment agreements from suppliers, using front companies-Leah Nthambi Bryant, Ollregy Investments, and Jomaki Enterprises-to launder proceeds through shadow bank accounts," he says in court documents.

Yesterday, Barisa appealed to those who participate in port tenders to refrain from vicious fights that could undermine the delivery of services, asking them to keep on competing for business without targeting the ports chief when they do not win.

"Some of the port tenders are based on government-to-government arrangements and should not be seen to be exclusively awarded by the KPA managing director. We want the KPA team to concentrate on service delivered as opposed to tender wars," he said.