Chris Obure, the Transport Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), has implicated Musalia Mudavadi, the leader of the Amani National Congress (ANC), in the Sh1.3 billion Anglo-Leasing corruption scandal.
While testifying, Mr Obure said that Mr Mudavadi was involved in one of the Anglo leasing contracts related to the procurement of equipment for the Kenya Postal Corporation (PCK).
According to his account, Mr Mudavadi wrote to him on May 9, 2002, requesting direct procurement of equipment to upgrade the country’s postal systems.
"Mudavadi advised me in the letter that it was the government's objective to develop and upgrade the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK)."
Mr Mudavadi, a presidential candidate for the 2022 elections, was vice president and minister of transport and communication at the time, while Mr Obure was finance minister under President Daniel Moi.
Testifying further, Obure went on to claim that Mudavadi requested his authorization to use direct procurement of equipment from a US company to connect more than 900 post offices in Kenya.
The letter allegedly read that the upgrade of postal services will make it easier to pay teachers, postal workers, and other civil personnel at the local level.
He denied abusing his powers as Cabinet Minister for Finance but said he believed Mr Mudavadi when he told him the government was launching a scheme to enhance the country’s postal systems.
Mr Obure told the trial magistrate that the former vice president assured him that a broadband network data network connecting all of the county’s post offices would improve postal services.
The new developments are set to scar Mudavadi’s presidential ambition as a clean pair of hands, for being the only politician on the ballot without a scandal behind his back.
The case concerns one of the Anglo Leasing scandals, in which bogus businesses were reportedly awarded 18 high-value government security contracts, resulting in the loss of billions of shillings in taxpayer money.
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