Ababu Namwamba dares accusers to go public
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Ababu Namwamba addresses journalists at the media centre in Parliament on March 11, 2015 after he appeared before the Powers and Privileges Committee over graft claims in the PAC. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |
What you need to know:
- MP on the spot over allegations of taking bribes to doctor committee reports.
- Embattled PAC chairman says MPs accusing him of graft should repeat claims before House Privileges team.
Embattled Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chairman Ababu Namwamba has asked MPs accusing him of corruption to repeat the claims in a public hearing of the Powers and Privileges team.
However, Speaker Justin Muturi said the committee, temporarily led by Kuresoi North MP Moses Cheboi, could sit in camera and warned MPs against discussing the proceedings in public.
“Any member commenting on matters before that committee or making disparaging remarks against fellow members in whatever forum will be held personally responsible and face the wrath of this House,” he said.
Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma on Tuesday argued that some members had been linked to corruption in the departmental committees to which they belong.
“Some have been mentioned in cases where vehicles are said to have been given out,” he said.
At his meeting with the Powers and Privileges Committee, Mr Namwamba demanded that the matters it is investigating should also be set out before a substantive meeting is held.
Members of the committee said the meeting did not go as planned, with Mr Namwamba expressing reservations about the impartiality of the National Assembly’s disciplinary team.
He is also reported to have claimed that members of the Privileges Committee themselves belong to House teams that have, like the PAC, been mentioned in graft allegations.
The only difference, the Budalang’i MP is reported to have said, was that the other committees had managed to resolve their issues quietly.
'PRELIMINARY ISSUES'
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Namwamba said the first meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was used to address “preliminary issues”.
“The normal order of things is that if you are supposed to respond to an allegation, then whoever is making it should have their say first and then the committee is able to frame whatever you’re supposed to respond to,” he said.
“It is now up to the committee to live up to my expectations and the expectations of this institution and the people of Kenya generally,” added the ODM secretary-general.
Mr Namwamba returns to the committee at 9 this morning “after the preliminary issues we have discussed today have been settled”.
He did not say what action he would take if the committee did not fulfil his wishes.
The Budalang’i MP has been on the spot since rebellion broke out in the PAC on February 17, with Ijara MP Ibrahim Abass reportedly initiating the no-confidence motion.
