Garissa Township MP and National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale has threatened to sue Daily Nation over an expose linking him to a Sh2.6 billion tender scandal.
Duale on Wednesday night sent several tweets warning against the publication of the report carrying the byline of Vincent Achuka.
“In 2015, August Nation Media Group ran a fake story on some companies allegedly associated with me. LINK: https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Duale-geothermal-contracts/1056-2817002-9xrnwpz/index.html … They are again trying to extort money and blackmail me by running another fake story by one Journalist Brian Wasuna tomorrow,” Duale tweeted.
“The company in question is Concordia. I’m not the Director. If they run the fake story I will sue @dailynation / @ntvkenya for defamation. I have provided all the necessary details to the editor.”
“Despite providing the Nation reporter with all the documents that could have helped him to do a professional job, sadly @dailynation has decided to go the gutter route by publishing pure falsehood in the name of investigative journalism. I’m not a Director of the alleged company,” the Majority leader said and attached some documents.
However, the signatures on the identification documents neither tallied with those on the tender documents nor with Duale’s signature on his passport. Daily Nation reported that its investigation shows a firm believed to be associated with Duale has been awarded government tenders worth Sh2.6 billion over the last ten years, which he denies.
If the claims are true, his link or ownership of the company puts him in conflict with procurement laws, which prohibit State officers from doing business with the government.
Section 59 of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act says “a State organ or public entity shall not enter into a contract for a procurement… with State and public officers”.
In 2015, the same publication reported that two companies associated with the MP were awarded two contracts worth Sh400 million by the Geothermal Development Company, whose top managers were under probe by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
