The legislators are expected to conduct the field inspections in Mombasa, Nakuru and Webuye as they seek to fully understand how the contaminated commodity might have got into the market/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 27 – The joint parliamentary committee on Trade and Agriculture probing the entry of contraband sugar into the market will on Wednesday take their investigations to various depots.
The legislators are expected to conduct the field inspections in Mombasa, Nakuru and Webuye as they seek to fully understand how the contaminated commodity might have got into the market.
The probe on the sugar scandal by the lawmakers kicked off with Cabinet Secretaries Mwangi Kiunjuri, Adan Mohammed, and Henry Rotich questioned on the subject that is a cause of concern for many Kenyans.
During the session, the Cabinet Secretaries in unison revealed that there was excess importation of sugar last year, an element they attributed to efforts to mitigate shortages due to drought in the country.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi however declared that he cannot honour the summons since doing so will prejudice the outcome of the ongoing investigations.
In a letter to National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho stated that such action would further fall short of the Bill of Rights and other statutes of Parliament that guides the investigations process.
Kibicho however, assured that the Ministry will submit a detailed report to Parliament addressing the questions raised about contraband sugar.
The CS had earlier asked to be given a new date, in what angered the MPs who accused him of ignoring them yet he was the one who announced that there is Mercury in some of the tax-free sugar imported last year.
In the meantime, there was uproar in the National Assembly as MPs accused Matiangi of treating matters casually after he declared that he would not discuss the sugar probe with the Agriculture committee that invited him.
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