More details have emerged following the suspension of Ezra chiloba from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), where he served as the Director General.
An audit indicated that the authority had recently lost millions of shillings in the CA Staff Mortgage Scheme administration.
According to a report from the Special Board Audit and Risk Committee meeting on August 8, Chiloba applied for and self-approved a Kshs.25 million mortgage loan to facilitate the purchase of a property by himself and Jacob Simiyu Wakhungu without subjecting the transaction details to interrogation and approval by a higher authority.
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He also claimed to have purchased a house and seven acres of land, which exceeds the one-acre restriction set by the Civil Servants Housing Scheme.
The committee observes that a junior staff member approved Chiloba's loan application, and there is no evidence that the junior staff member performed the required due diligence and advice management, including but not limited to the relationship between the seller and the buyer and the size of the property.
Furthermore, the Authority's bank account was discovered to be in the name of Kitale Hilmost Ltd, which was discovered to be Chiloba's company.
The investigation identifies severe anomalies in the scheme's administration, demonstrating that the staff mortgage was approved and issued without regard for the contract term or terms of service, resulting in a loan default of Ksh.28,874,815.62.
According to a National Treasury internal auditor, a real estate professional from the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 14 government valuers from the State Department of Lands, there is a more than 20% difference in property valuation between the government and private contracted valuers.
