Photo/FILE A Kenya Navy warship sails out of the Likoni channel to escort the MV Faina ship which was released by Somali pirates on February 8, 2009. A contract to secure a Sh4.6 billion warship for Kenya from a Spanish firm was signed in July 2003.
Daily Nation
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
The Kenya Defence Force confirmed on Tuesday that a team was already in Spain finalising negotiations with the suppliers, Euromarine Industries for delivery of the Sh4.6 billion warship.
“Negotiations are at a very advanced stage to have the ship delivered. Our officers from the Kenya Navy and the State Law office have been negotiating with the suppliers and we will soon have it delivered,” Department of Defence Director of Communications Bogita Ongeri responded to an enquiry by Daily Nation.
The ship, already christened Jasiri Mombasa might help bolster the Kenya Navy’s firepower in the war against Somali terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, though the military on Tuesday maintained that the campaign could be won without it.
The navy has been securing Kenya’s coastline from infiltration by the terrorist group and keeping a check on Somali pirate gangs in the Indian ocean.
Mr Ongeri was, however, categorical that expected delivery of the ship had nothing to do with the ongoing war against Al-Shabaab.
“The negotiations have been going on long before the military operation in Somalia started, we have enough resources for that particular task,” stated Mr Ongeri.
The contract to secure the ship was signed in July 2003 and it was one of the 18 contentious security contracts generally described as ‘Anglo-Leasing’.
The supplier later sub-contracted the ship’s construction to another Spanish firm known as Astilleros Gondan.
Payments on this contract were stopped in June 2005 after then Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics, Mr John Githongo blew the whistle on the Anglo Leasing contracts.
The supplier then sued the Government for withholding payments. Mr Ongeri on Tuesday said the renewed negotiations followed a report by the Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Relations in September 2006.
“The committee gave the contract a clean bill of health so what remains is for our officers to finalise negotiations so that the ship is delivered. We hope to complete that very soon,” he stated.
The committee, chaired by then Laikipia West MP GG Kariuki went on a fact finding tour of Spain where the ship is docked and held meetings with the suppliers before preparing its report.
The report, adopted by Parliament in May 2007, was heavily criticised by civil society groups which accused the committee of taking part in a cover-up to swindle the Kenyan tax-payer of billions of shillings.
Independent anti-graft watchdog Mars Group
questioned why the Parliament committee did not meet with the Attorney
General or scrutinise the legal and financial contracts to satisfy
itself that procurement rules were followed and that the ship was value
for money. The ship has been described as converted oceanographic survey vessel is
used for investigative duties such as submarine and mine detection, as
well as weapon trailing.
It is a 1,400 tonne frigate, 85 metres long and 13 metres wide at the
hull with a maximum speed of 28 knots, about 51 kilometres per hour.
There has been no information on the type of weapons it carries.