A section of Kenya Ports Authority [KPA] employees have come out in to defend their embattled Managing director Daniel Manduku who is accused of being involved in a multibillion shilling fraud at the parastatal. 

The workers claim  the allegations of corruption at the port of Mombasa are purely malice and there is a hidden agenda behind the reports which have been in the media.

Port Workers Welfare and Performance Group [PWWPG] chairman Waweru Kamau said they are 'perturbed' by the media reports in the past one week on the port scandal.

In a signed statement the PWWPG chairman were quick to state that they dont hold brief for Manduku or any other official mentioned in the scandal.

The statement which was also signed by the secretary Ali Khamisi and organizing secretary Peter Ouma stated that the scandal is purely 'witch hunt'  driven by 'cartels' and 'cowboy contractors' who are out to eject Manduku from his position before his three year contract elapses.

"We are against the way the graft cases are being handled which seem to be personal vendetta against individuals at the port at the moment," he pointed out.

The KPA workers chairman accused various tenders losers at the port of ganging up  with brokers to fight back and ensure Manduku is sacked.

Kamau argued that some powerfulk individuals are not happy  Manduku  cancelled some contracts and made some internal reshuffle of port employees at the port.

‘’We are surprised that some names of managers mentioned on the social media have nothing to do with the tender procurement system," he pointed out.

The PWWPG chairman said in his three page statement they are being used as sacrificial lambs to eject Manduku to settle some political scores following his good performance as he has been able to turn the port around.

Kamau lauded Manduku for what he termed as good  efforts to fight corruption at the port..

"Let the government be honest when fighting graft and should stop used," he pointed out.

Meanwhile Kenya Ports Authority management has defended itself against reports over corruption at the port and maintained that the procurement of tenders under scrutiny is above board.

A brief statement signed by Manduku said the move comes in the wake of adverse media reports implicating top officials in irregular expenditures on infrastructural projects.

He said the projects including the Makongeni Goodshed Yard, manufacture of concrete barriers and Kisumu Port revitalization all followed the procurement laws.

"For instance it’s been reported in the media that the Makongeni Goodshed yard is on a plot it never owned, but it is important to note that KPA legally acquired the parcel of land from the Kenya Railways Corporation," he pointed out.

The KPA boss said the facility was gazetted as a port in line with the laid down practice and policy after KPA acquired the requisite board approvals from both the Kenya Railways Corporation and Kenya Ports Authority.

Manduku said on the manufacture of concrete barriers the media reported that preparation of Bill of Quantities were done without requisition forms from the user department, the true position is that the procurement procedures were adhered to and were initiated by relevant consumer departments.

He said subsequently, all the companies that won the tenders for the projects were qualified and picked through an open tender system.

"Kisumu investigations are ongoing by the DCI team accompanied by the engineers from
Public Works," he pointed out.