MPs renew calls for Senate to probe dirty sugar
County officials destroy contraband sugar which was found in a warehouse at industrial area in Nakuru. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP ANC
What you need to know:
- Taveta MP says Senate better place to conduct fresh investigations.
Ms Shaban said Parliament could not continue with the debate until after six months have passed.
Wundanyi MP Danson Mwashako said the bribery allegations also need to be investigated by anti-graft agencies.
Several MPs have renewed calls on the Senate to open a fresh investigation into the illegal sugar trade in the country.
This comes after the National Assembly rejected its joint committee report amid bribery allegations to shoot down the report.
In an interview with journalists in Voi, Taveta MP Naomi Shaban who dismissed the bribery claims said the legislators unanimously rejected the report because it was shoddily done.
She said the Senate was better placed to conduct fresh investigations.
Ms Shaban said Parliament could not continue with the debate until after six months have passed.
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“The report failed to answer key questions about the importation business of the sugar. It did not state if the sugar was safe or not,” she said.
The MP said the committee report was destined to fail since it did not mention those involved in the illicit sugar trade in the country.
She defended Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and his EAC counterpart Adan Mohammed over their alleged failure to ensure sugar importation policies were implemented.
“Instead of them going for the real culprits they tried to incriminate innocent people. We could not allow that,” she said.
The Taveta MP said Kenya Bureau of Standards had the mandate of checking the safety of the imported sugar.
“CS Mohamed was not responsible for checking safety standards of goods at the port. We have an agency responsible for the same,” she said.
However, she said the government should protect sugarcane farmers from exploitation by unscrupulous traders.
Ms Shaban was speaking at Sagalla International Talent Academy in Voi where the National Assembly’s Committee on Sports, Tourism and Culture visited the school.
Her Wundanyi colleague Danson Mwashako said the bribery allegations also need to be investigated by anti-graft agencies.
Narok South MP Korei Ole Lemein said the National Assembly supports President Uhuru Kenyatta’s fight against corruption.
“By supporting the president we will move forward in matters of development,” he said.
