Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei has denied allegations linking him to a spying software procurement scandal.
In a statement on Tuesday, November 26, he refuted claims that he was associated with Mary Wachuka Maina, the alleged owner of Jipe Inc., a company purportedly involved in providing “confidential software to spy on targets and manage strategic communications.”
"Ms. Mary Wachuka Maina and/or Jipe Inc. are strangers to me. The story itself acknowledges that the only time I was purportedly supposed to meet Ms. Wachuka, the meeting never took place," he said.
Koskei further asserted that he is unaware of any procurement of such software by the government and emphasized there is no necessity for such technology within the administration.
“To my knowledge, as Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, I am not aware of any procurement of such software by the Government. Furthermore, there is no Government need, nor will there ever be a need, for such software,” he stated.
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Additionally, Koskei expressed his frustration with the media house for publishing the allegations without seeking his input or clarification.
“I take great exception to the use of my name and photograph in this misleading report. No effort was made to contact me for my response before publishing this defamatory and baseless claim. This omission is not only a responsible but also appears to be a deliberate attempt to tarnish my repetition," he added.
Koskei demanded the media house to retract the story and issue a public apology, failure to which he will pursue legal recourse.
"I, therefore, demand an immediate retraction of this story and a public apology from [the media house]. Failure to comply with this demand will leave me with no option but to pursue legal redress to protect the name, stature, and image of this office," he said.
This comes hours after Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo who was also implicated in the procurement of the alleged spyware denied any involvement.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, he demanded that the media house responsible for the article retract the report and issue a public apology.
Consequently, Kiptoo threatened to take legal action should the media house fail to meet his demand, claiming that the authors of the article did not verify the facts of the story before publishing the article, thus, harming his reputation.
"I wish to respectfully demand an immediate retraction of the story and a public apology for the harm caused to my reputation and character. Should the newspaper fail to take corrective action, I reserve the right to pursue all legal remedies available to protect my name.
"The article claims that "confidential accounts" exist within the National Treasury, from which funds would allegedly be allocated for the purported scheme.
"This is entirely untrue. No such accounts exist, and the operations of the National Treasury are governed by strict legal and regulatory frameworks that ensure transparency and accountability," he said.
