President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday handed over to counties seven ambulances, which were purchased with compensation money from the UK company Smith & Ouzman of the famous “chicken gate scandal”.

Governors of the counties that benefitted namely; Laikipia, Wajir, West Pokot, Kitui, Elgeyo Marakwet and Nairobi received the ambulances at state house Nairobi.

The President said that the ambulances will go a long way in saving lives adding that the repatriation of proceeds of corruption arising from the Smith & Ouzman case is a significant step taken by the Government of Kenya and the Government of the United Kingdom to ensure that corruption does not pay and that the corrupt will not enjoy proceeds of crime.

“These Ambulances will go a long way in saving lives and enhancing emergency response services in the selected Counties which were in dire need of this support,” Uhuru said.

The Chicken Gate Scandal

In January 2015, a London court found Smith & Ouzman guilty of paying a bribe of £395,074 christened “chicken” to foreign public officials in Kenya and Mauritania in order to earn ballot papers printing contracts. Two former directors of the British Company, Nicholas Charles Smith, 43, and his father, Christopher John Smith, 71, were convicted.

Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins sentenced the younger Smith, a former Sales and Marketing Director for the firm, to a three-year in prison for the crime. Smith and Ouzman were fined more than Sh300 million for bribing the Kenyan officials at KNEC and IEBC.

The UK government had earlier promised to commit the money recovered to social development projects in Kenya, which eventually totaled £2.2m (£1.3m in fines, £881,158 in confiscation fees and £25,000 in costs).

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson handed over the ambulances to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The Kenyan individuals named in the chicken scandal include the the IEBC members Davis Chirchir and CEO James Oswago and former KNEC boss Paul Wasanga.