Standard Chartered Rejects Sh785 Million

Claiming that there were insufficient details of the beneficiary of the millions of shillings paid to the CBK account, the German lender rejected the refund for the excess payment. Amid increased oversight by German financial regulator BanFin, they are demanding supporting documents in regards to the payment.

Investigations by the parliament on the excess payment to Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) by Kenya Power and why the State officials have hesitated to receive it are currently underway. The money transfer was carried out in December after the Marsabit- based power firm received CBK details from Kenya Power to carry out the transfer.

With claims of failure to meet the customer due diligence requirements and deeming the cash transfer to be suspicious, Standard Chartered Bank rejected the money and returned it back to LWTP.

Following up on documentation to support the transfer payment, LWTP has contacted Kenya Power thrice and the CBK twice. The Ministry of Energy was left the burden by Kenya Power while the CBK has remained quiet on the matter.

Phylip Leferink, Lake Turkana Wind Power said, “LTWP communicated to KPLC via on 23 December 2021, that the payment had been returned and to provide an appropriate contact person at Central Bank of Kenya, or the additional banking information required. We subsequently reached out to both again on 3 January 2021 and 12 January 2021 but with unfortunately no response received yet.”

A letter tabled by the Parliament indicated that the Standard Chartered Bank in Frankfurt Germany communicated that it requires more details in regard to the beneficiary and the payment.

A senior Kenyan banker said that the German bank had possibly declined the transfer because the overpayment has raised more questions than answers and that it may be that details of the ultimate recipient had not been disclosed.

Questions have been raised by MPs concerning the Sh785 million payment made to LTWP for energy that has not been consumed by taxpayers.

There were payment delays where the investor received Sh5.7 billion in 2021 when Sh4,9 billion is what was due and hence there was Sh785million in excess.

On January 27, 2022, Kenya Power acknowledged receipt of communication and responded to LTWP about the inability to transmit the refund successfully due to the inability to transmit the funds due to a lack of complete bank details.

Rosemary Oduor, the CEO of Kenya Power said, “Please note the challenge has been shared with the Ministry of Energy requesting for additional details from the central bank. We will communicate further details to you in due on this matter.”