Kenya's commissioner of mines when Cortec's permit was withdrawn, Moses Masibo, was questioned in Dubai by the mining junior's lawyers Sam Luttrell, Ben Luscombe and Audley Sheppard, partners at Clifford Chance in Perth and London. The minister of mines at the time of the disputed events, Najib Balala, did not appear before the court.
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Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala fury at Sh80m bribe accusations270 Views
KENYA: One of the 42 firms whose licence was cancelled by a Cabinet minister earlier this week has sensationally accused him of demanding a ‘million-dollar bribe’. Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala The firm has also threatened to seek Sh850 billion in compensation. Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has angrily denied asking for a bribe. The claims are the latest twist in the controversy surrounding the cancellation of
special prospecting and mining licenses issued by Commissioner of Mines and Geology Moses Masibo.
Balala this week suspended Masibo over the matter.
Just a day after threatening to seek redress in court, officials of Cortec Mining Kenya claimed that Balala revoked their licence “irregularly” after they allegedly declined to give in to his demand for an Sh80 million bribe. Country director Jacob Juma produced a letter allegedly sent to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission a week before Balala cracked the whip to report the matter. He, however, said the demand for a bribe came through Mr Masibo. “On Saturday July 6, I received a telephone call at around 9am from Mr Masibo requesting a meeting,” the businessman said yesterday at a press conference in his Lavington office. “At the meeting, Masibo complained that Balala was demanding Sh80 million from Cortec and that if the company did not honour the payment, the minister would cancel the licence.”
New house Juma, who is also a director of another firm at the centre of a botched maize supply deal with the Cereals Board, claimed he later met the minister at a house he (Balala) was renting in Kileleshwa, where he was asked for a bribe. According to a letter written by Cortec Managing Director David Anderson to EACC, Balala told Juma he had sold his previous home in Karen to raise funds for the March 4 elections and needed money to buy a new house. “Balala confirmed to Juma that he required Sh80 million from Cortec to buy a house for he had sold his house in Karen to raise funds for campaigns…,” the letter to EACC reads. It is copied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Directorate of Criminal Investigations head Ndegwa Muhoro. In a dramatic turn of events, Juma purportedly called the embattled Commissioner of Mines Masibo during the press conference and got him to confirm his account. “Yes, he (Balala) was demanding Sh80 million to buy a house,” said the voice on the phone. Just a few days prior to its licence being cancelled, Cortec had announced the discovery of niobium and other rare earths at Mirima Hill, Kwale County. Rare earths are minerals used in circuitry for modern technology, including cars, phones, diode lights among others... |
