Western leaders Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetang’ula and Eugene Wamalwa have asked the President to form a commission of inquiry to investigate the sugar scandal.
Mudavadi (Amani National Congress), Wetang’ula (Ford Kenya) and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Wamalwa said they had lost faith in Parliament, and wanted an independent body to save the ailing sugar sector.
Great meeting with my brothers Musalia and Eugene this morning. Good discussions on various issues including the sugar crisis.
— Sen.Moses Wetang’ula (@Wetangulam) August 15, 2018
Speaking in Nairobi yesterday after a breakfast meeting, the three leaders accused MPs of failing Kenyans, and opposed calls to revive debate on the sugar report that has been shot down twice in Parliament.
They appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to urgently form a commission of inquiry as a way of continuing his purge on graft. The three leaders said the sugar sector was crucial to the livelihoods of millions of people in the sugar growing belt, and should not be left to collapse.
MPs have twice shot down the report on contraband sugar, which was prepared by the joint National Assembly and Senate Agriculture Committee.
Lugari MP Ayub Savula and his Ikolomani counterpart Bernard Shinali also want the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the National Assembly Powers and Privileges Committee, under Speaker Justin Muturi, to probe lawmakers said to have received bribes in order to shoot down the controversial sugar report.
Bribery claims
“We want proper investigations to be conducted and action taken against our colleagues implicated in the scam that has given the 12th Parliament a bad name,” Mr Savula told a local media house.
Mr Shinali said EACC should take up the matter without further delay, and lay bare the truth about the sugar saga and bribery claims. He said thorough investigations would erase the doubts Kenyans have on sugar.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa has broken his silence and named MPs who dished out bribes so as to shoot down the report on the contraband sugar.
Speaking to KTN, Barasa divulged that the team that dished out bribes to MPs was led by Wajir Woman Representative Fatuma Gedi.
According to the Kimilili lawmaker, Gedi was acting in the interest of the pastoralist community that was keen on saving CS Adan Mohamed who was adversely mentioned in the report.