A
meeting of a committee of the National Assembly yesterday turned rowdy as
members accused each other over a Sh4 million bribe.
MPs
who sit on the Committee on Agriculture nearly came to blows after allegations
were made that the chairman, Adan Nooru, had received a bribe from sugar barons
to go slow on its report on the sugar crisis in the country.
What
had started off as a closed-door session of the committee degenerated into
shouts and sneers, forcing members to demand that it be opened up to the press
after other members insisted that the bribery allegations be made in public.
It
is at this juncture that a face-off erupted, with some members saying that some
unnamed sugar barons had distributed money to some of their colleagues to water
down the report.
Three
MPs – Fred Outa (Nyando) Ben Washiali (Mumias East) and John Kobado (Uriri) –
who have declined to sign the report tabled in the House, insisted bribes were
paid to influence the report.
They
said the initial report was to drop the names of those who had mismanaged the
Mumias Sugar Company.
Other
committee members demanded that the three substantiate claims they had
allegedly made that Sh60 million was paid to the committee to overturn the
report.
Both
Washiali and Outa denied ever making the allegations, though the former
maintained that the Sh4 million allegedly deposited in Nooru’s account had a
bearing on the “hollow” report tabled in the House.
Washiali
went on to claim that Sigowet/Soin MP Justice Kemei had whispered to him that
another Sh100million has been set aside by sugar barons to ensure the report
was thrown out by the House.
“If
I was to talk of money I would not have said Sh60 million. I would have stated
Sh100 million, which Kemei had whispered to me had been set aside to take care
of the House in terms of altering the report,” said Washiali.
However,
it is the controversy over Sh4 million, allegedly deposited in the personal
account of the committee chairman, that caused more hostilities, with Washiali
and Mt Elgon MP John Serut engaging in exchanges that fell just short of a
physical fight.
The
issue of the money was first raised by Lugari MP Ayub Savula. Savula had,
during the committee deliberations in Mombasa, tabled a deposit slip alleging
that the money was paid to the chairman of the committee to influence the
report’s content.
“I
have a feeling the Sh4 million has had an effect on the report that we came up
with. I know the money was deposited in your account and even if you want to
kill me I will say it,” Washiali told the chairman.
Serut,
committee vice chairman Kareke Mbiuki (Maara) and Othaya MP Mary Wambui challenged
Washiali to give evidence on the money.
They
expressed anger that the statement suggested that MPs who had signed the report
had also received part of the money.
“Savula
has never substantiated his claims. He must now come and apologise and withdraw
the claim, just as Washiali owes us an apology,” said Mbiuki.
Nooru
defended himself against the allegations of bribery.
He
told the committee that they had worked tirelessly to produce the report and
disclosed that there had been consensus to drop the names for lack of evidence.
“We
decided to leave it to the wisdom of the House to decide if they could employ
the draft report of KPMG from where the names were imported,” said the
committee chairman.
Nooru
accused Washiali of pushing the committee to indict “a particular person”,
which the committee rejected, as there was insufficient evidence to link the
person with the woes at Mumias.
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