Enemies of development fixed me, says ex-CS Felix Koskei

Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei has narrated how “enemies of development” fixed him bringing his short-lived cabinet career to an abrupt end in 2015 barely two years in office.

Mr Koskei, who appeared before the Justice and Legal Affairs committee of the National Assembly for vetting as a member to the Judicial Service Commission, told MPs that he was very surprised when his name appeared in the list of shame that President Uhuru Kenyatta presented in parliament in March 2015.

The “list of shame” as it would later be called, contained the names of senior government officials among them CSs and parastatal chiefs that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission was investigating for corruption and other abuse of office allegations.

STANDING OVATION

On Wednesday, a composed Mr Koskei surprised MPs when he reminded them that as they gave the president a standing ovation after presenting the list on the evening of March 26, 2015, he was in the Speaker’s gallery equally clapping and applauding “because it was the right thing to do”.

“This thing really hit me hard. I clapped as you did because I was happy that the President had taken the fight against corruption to another level. But little did I know that my name was in the list,” Mr Koskei, a graduate of botany and zoology from the University of Nairobi, told the attentive MPs.

“I told myself that it was the right way to take the corruption war serious. I only discovered the following day that my name was there,” he said.

Mr Koskei, who is also a strategic management and procurement expert, told the attentive MPs that he continued drawing his full salary and benefits until November 2015 when the President officially terminated his contract and he was paid all his dues.

NANDI GOVERNORSHIP

The former CS who tried his hand in politics but lost in the Nandi governorship race to Mr Stephen Sang, said that he would later step aside on a Saturday due to public pressure to pave way for investigations.

The accusations levelled against the CS were that he was involved in the irregular acquisition of a potato farm in Tigoni, Kiambu.

But speaking Wednesday, he said that he has never been to that area.

Mr Koskei said he would later go to EACC demanding to know the truth “because they had never taken any statement from me” on corruption allegations.

“When I reached there, the only thing they showed me was the president’s speech that he made in Parliament. I would later record a statement and from that day, I have never gone there; no one has ever contacted me. I have never gone to court,” Mr Koskei said.

He continued, “What I have been seeing are papers from the EACC and the media flying around.”

“The EACC cleared me within a month and the file was closed.”

POLITICAL BUG

He tickled the committee members when he said that despite being bitten by the political bug in the August 2017 general elections, “I am not a political extremist”.

“If you ask me, I will be very reluctant to go back to politics because it is not a cup of my tea. I don’t even know how I would start. I forgot politics immediately I lost the governorship race,” he said.

The former CS said that he is straight forward and that he does his things in line with the law even as he promised to ensure that the Judiciary rids itself of corruption activities.

“Corruption keeps evolving every other day but we have to fight it whether real or perceived,” he said as he called for adequate funding for the Judiciary to deliver justice to Kenyans.