Nairobi, Feb. 14 -- The Treasury overruled the Controller of Budget and paid Sh6.09 billion to acquire a 60 percent stake in Telkom Kenya from a UK-based private equity fund, just four days before last year's General Election.

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o says she refused to authorise the withdrawal of the billions to buy out Helios Investment Partners in Telkom Kenya in a deal that made the company fully State-owned.

The Treasury withdrew Sh6.09 billion on August 5, 2022 and paid Jamhuri Holdings Ltd, a Mauritius-based subsidiary of Helios in a trans action that lacked parliamentary approval.

The deal was closed in the last days of Uhuru Kenyatta's presidency and came at the height of campaigns to succeed him by then Deputy...