Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has rubbished claims that he coerced the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o to approve the illegal release of Sh 15.5 billion.
In a four-page statement Wednesday, the former CS explained that the funds were part of the Sh127.5 billion supplementary budget signed by President William Ruto on Tuesday, 7th March.
Ukur Yatani explained that the law allows the CS National Treasury to authorize expenditures that have not been appropriated by Parliament in unique situations.
“This begs the question: What makes this approval of Sh15 billion ‘sneaky’ and that of the Sh127.5 billion before parliament and mostly under the current government legitimate? Yet they both used the same constitutional path,” he posed.
He also disclosed that the office of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua requested the release of Sh1.5 billion.
“Just to mention, immediately after the 2022 election, a request on behalf of the current DP was presented to my office under the same article for approval and disbursement of Sh1.59 billion for his office use.
“It included Sh300 million for cars and Sh330 million for hospitality and a request that I did not grant in full but considered an amount of Sh500 million due to the financial constraints we had at that time,” the statement read in part.
Yatani faulted Margaret Nyakang’o for insinuating that he facilitated the theft of public funds. Yatani termed the allegations as ‘calculated malice’ and threatened to take legal action against Nyakang’o.
“This depiction is libellous and defamatory to my character and professional service to the public in many capacities. I have instructed my lawyers to study her utterances and advice on a lawsuit against her person,” Yatani said.
