Maize scandal: The lies and the facts

“The documents I presented here have references to more people than the NCPB and I feel they should be accepted,” he said. But Mr Maalim warned that he had made a ruling and any member who challenged it risked being thrown out of the House.

Before the ruling, Mr Ruto and Lands minister James Orengo urged the Deputy Speaker to reject all the documents because they had not been presented to him before they were tabled in the House.

Mr Maalim said it was the responsibility of MPs to ensure that the documents they tabled were genuine and directed that the Speaker must be made aware of their contents before they were presented.

The Kibaki family responded vigorously to criticism of the First Lady, terming it unprecedented, undignified and exceedingly shameful. The family said it was a sad day for Kenya “when an MP can use his Parliamentary privilege to cast dishonest aspersions on the character and dignity of innocent Kenyans who do not have the opportunity to defend themselves in Parliament.”

They added: “We humbly request the Speaker of the National Assembly to give the nation direction on this issue, as it is not the first time a Member of Parliament is maliciously maligning Kenyans from the floor of Parliament.” The Kibakis said even going by the current low political standards among certain politicians, the attack on the First Lady was uncalled for.

Cannot hide

The family challenged Mr Namwamba to repeat his allegations outside Parliament “where he cannot hide behind the Parliamentary privilege.” The Kibaki children urged their mother to remain steadfast and strong in her service to the nation. The First Lady, they said, should continue speaking out for the many Kenyans whose voices are never heard.

“Given her known attributes of tremendous integrity, courage and determination, especially in the face of adversity, we are certain that she will prevail,” they said. They also thanked Kenyans for their “kind words of support and encouragement.”

Mr Namwamba’s attack on Mrs Kibaki came just a day after President Kibaki contradicted her on the performance of Internal Security Minister George Saitoti. While the First Lady had called for the removal of the Kajiado North MP for allegedly failing Kenyans on the Nakumatt and Sachang’wan fire tragedies, President Kibaki affirmed his confidence in the former mathematics don.