Matiangi had snubbed the committee on Monday, saying he was engaged in the East African Community talks but through his Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, indicated that there was a mix up of dates because the meeting started Tuesday/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 26 – MPs in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture were furious after Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi failed to show up yet again to shed light on the sugar importation scandal and progress so far made in the investigations.
Matiangi had snubbed the committee on Monday, saying he was engaged in the East African Community talks but through his Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, indicated that there was a mix up of dates because the meeting started Tuesday.
“We wish to respectfully point out that the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government is the host of the summit,” the letter stated. “We therefore reiterate our earlier request of the committees rescheduling the meeting to a later date.”
But MPs in the committee were not convinced and 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.”
Committee Chairman Kanini Kega however, urged them to give him one more chance to face them on Thursday.
Following this, Matiangi was given a final invitation to appear before the Joint committee on Thursday at 8am.
The MPs however requested Kega to summon him for failing to honour three invitations.
The probe on the sugar scandal by the lawmakers kicked off on Monday with Cabinet Secretaries Mwangi Kiunjuri, Adan Mohammed, and Henry Rotich contradicting each other on who to blame for the mess.
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