Investment Banker John Ngumi gave Helios, Jamhuri Holdings Limited (JHL) the best advice when JHL sold its stake in Telkom Kenya back to the government.
Ngumi spoke in Parliament on Thursday when he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and National Planning.
Ngumi who is the Director of Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd said his company deserved a payment of $3.07 million.
Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd was paid the cash for its role in advising on the government’s acquisition of Telkom Kenya Limited for Sh6.2 billion.
The amount that Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd received over a period of five months — between April 1, 2022, when the government began the acquisition of Telkom Kenya Limited, and September 2022, when the deal was concluded — is equivalent to about Sh415 million.
This is based on an exchange rate of 135.20 shillings to one US dollar.
Anjarwalla and Company Advocates received (Sh54 million).
Ngumi -the director of Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd told the MPs the Company deserved to be paid $1 million for the advice.
Mr Ngumi had told the MPs that JHL needed high-level advice to invest because it could not afford to make mistakes.
“Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd were paid the money because they were the best in the business. They valued the advice I gave them and it was a willing buyer willing seller (transaction),” he said.
He told the committee that Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd will pay Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) “brought forward tax” for income that is due because it was not anticipated in the year it was made — at the rate of 30 per cent.
“It is a painful amount but Eagle Africa Capital Partners Ltd are going to obey the law,” said Mr Ngumi.
Ngumi told MPs that he has interests in investment banking and commercial banking and that he has been a banker since 1980 as well as the chairman of Kenya Pipeline Company, Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) and Safaricom.