Kitui MCA investigates arrest of Speaker Kevin Kinengo in Dubai over county debt of 8.9 million shillings

The members of the Kitui County Assembly have launched an investigation into the circumstances under which their speaker, Kevin Kinengo, was detained for two weeks by Dubai authorities over an alleged unpaid county debt of 8.9 million shillings.

The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) of the County Assembly has summoned several officials, including the acting district attorney, to explain why the court case initiated in 2021 in the Federal Court of the United Arab Emirates was not defended, leading to the detention of Mr. Kinengo.

JLAC Chairman Cyrus Musyoka said on Monday, August 5, that the travel embargo had put the County Council in an embarrassing situation and that it could have been avoided if the county authorities had taken urgent action in response to the court’s request.

Mr Musyoka, MCA of Ikanga/Kyatune constituency, said: Nation.Africa that Kitui County has not shown any commitment to work with the Dubai-based consulting firm, which casts further doubt on the whole matter.

“My committee will seek full disclosure from the executive authorities of the details of the Dubai court case when they were served with the suit papers and also explain why no defence was ever filed,” Mr Musyoka said.

The committee also wants to establish whether the Kitui County authorities issued a Local Service Order (LSO) or signed any agreement with the Dubai-based company that approached the UAE Federal Court and obtained an order to detain senior county officials who were transiting Dubai until the debt was fully settled.

The MCA said the county authorities should seek legal assistance from the Office of the Attorney General and the Kenya Mission to the UAE to resolve the issue in accordance with the law.

The investigation by the County Council began after it was revealed that Dubai’s debt of 8.9 million shillings incurred to bail out the Marshal had not been officially repaid by the county but was instead informally collected by top Kitui officials and well-wishers, including contractors doing business with the county.

County finance director John Makau confirmed no public funds were spent to bail out the chairman because the government’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) was not working.

The Ifmis portal has been offline since the end of the last financial year in line with routine procedure.

Chairman Kinengo, who was in Dubai on business, was banned from returning to Kenya on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, evening after police at Dubai International Airport issued a court order barring top officials from traveling in Kitui County.

He was forced to stay in Dubai for 15 days until Thursday, July 25, when he was allowed to leave after district officials in the country frantically tried to resolve the matter and lift the embargo.

The travel embargo comes after Dubai-based TBLDC Group filed a lawsuit alleging that Kitui County had entered into an agreement with it to host former governor Charity Ngilu and a delegation of 15 officials at Dubai Expo 2021, which will be held from October 17 to 26 this year.

County Solicitor Timothy Mwange, the acting district attorney, declined to discuss the case, but interviews with several officials, who requested anonymity due to the political heat over the case, confirmed that the lawsuit had not been dismissed at all, despite the legal department receiving numerous subpoenas to virtually attend court hearings in Dubai.

“The district attorney’s office received the lawsuit documents written in Arabic but was unable to translate them into English or understand the basis of the lawsuit,” said a senior official familiar with the matter.

The company claimed in court that it had paid Dubai Expo registration fees, hotel bookings, airport transfers and other services to the Kitui delegation, costing it a total of US$55,000, and the county government cancelled its participation on the day the Trade Symposium began.

This amount is approximately 6 million shillings, based on the 2021 average dollar exchange rate of 109.6 shillings to a Kenyan shilling.

Governor Ngilu’s 16-member delegation to the nine-day Dubai Expo included then-Assembly Speaker George Ndotto, two members of the county executive committee, two chief executives and nine county assembly members.

The Dubai court ruled in favor of the company on the undisputed claim and legal costs, with interest at 10 percent per month. The county ultimately paid $67,000 or 8.94 million shillings.

Following the court ruling, the consulting firm went a step further and obtained a travel embargo for the governor, his deputy, the county finance minister and the county assembly speaker.

The travel ban meant that any of the county’s top four officials who set foot in Dubai, whether visiting or transiting elsewhere, would be arrested and detained until the claim was fully upheld.

It is for this reason that Chairman Kinengo has unwittingly fallen into a trap that was set long before he took office in 2023.

Upon reaching the airport to catch his return flight to Nairobi, airport authorities informed him that they could not allow him to travel because a red alert was in effect and referred the matter to a local court.

In an interview for Nation.Africa, The speaker recounted the ordeal of being held in a foreign country for mistakes he knew nothing about. He had previously publicly spoken about the issue at the annual Kitui Agricultural and Trade Fair in Ithookwe.

He added that he was taken to a local court where he was directed to a portal where he could download details of the case, also in Arabic.

“I was not arrested or detained by Dubai Police, I could move freely around the city but I could not leave the country because my details were circulating at all exit points,” Mr Kinengo said, adding that the travel ban can only be lifted by an asylum seeker once he receives his dues.

He added: “I contacted Governor Julius Malomb and informed him of my predicament, who in turn quickly called an emergency cabinet meeting to find a solution,” he explained, adding that he was only allowed to board the rescheduled flight to Nairobi after the county paid the debt and the Dubai courts lifted the embargo.

However, when contacted for comment, Mr Zakayo Kimanzi, who served as the county secretary in Governor Ngilu’s government, said the county had neither made any commitment nor signed any agreement with the Dubai-based company.

“I am aware of this case but this claim is baseless as we never issued any local purchase order to the Dubai company, which is the only legal document that binds the county as a contracting entity with a formal contract,” Mr Kimanzi said.

The former official said the Malombe administration should have defended the case when summoned by Dubai courts and demanded proof of any agreement.

“Governor Ngilu and her delegation did not attend the Dubai Expo. We cancelled the trip because it was too expensive, so the current administration paid for services not provided,” Mr Kimanzi said.