Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi addresses members of the Senate Select Committee that is considering the motion to impeach him during the hearing at County Hall Nairobi on May 9, 2024.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the scandal regarding the sale of fake fertiliser to farmers under the national government-sponsored subsidy programme by a special committee of the National Assembly.
Seven of the 11-member committee voted to save Mr Linturi from impeachment.
The committee that is chaired by Marsabit Woman Representative Naomi Waqo was formed to investigate the grounds for impeachment in a motion tabled by Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka.
The motion was overwhelmingly endorsed by 149 MPs against 36, paving the way for the establishment of the committee. A member of the committee who spoke to Nation in confidence said members were carefully selected to “save Mr Linturi.”
“I am not casting any aspersions but, if you look at the members representing the majority side, they were not chosen to investigate the matter but had clear instructions to exonerate the CS,” the MP said.
“They have a closed mind and you cannot tell them anything. You cannot reason with them,” he said.
But even as the committee made its decision, Mr Wamboka, a first term MP, will go down in history as the first lawmaker who stood with farmers against the purveyors of fake fertiliser.
In his motion, Mr Wamboka wanted Mr Linturi fired on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution or any other law, serious reasons to believe the CS had committed a crime under national law, as well as gross misconduct.
The committee is bound by the Constitution to report back to the House within 10 days of its formation, which timeframe ended on Friday last week. The MPs retreated to Argyle Grand Hotel on Mombasa Road to write its report ahead of its tabling before a special sitting of the House today.
Article 152 (9) of the Constitution states that “if the select committee reports that it finds the allegations unsubstantiated, no further proceedings shall be taken,” meaning that the matter will end there and cannot be reintroduced in the life of the current Parliament.
Had the allegations stood, the National Assembly would have afforded the CS an opportunity to be heard and voted by a resolution of a majority of the 349 MPs in the House, which is 176, to approve the resolution requiring the CS to be dismissed.
On Sunday, National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja) said that “the House gave the committee the mandate to do its work independently. Some of us are waiting for the committee’s report before we can comment further.”
“The House spoke very loudly when it delivered the 149 vote against 36. In a sense, the National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence against Mr Linturi,” Mr Wandayi added.
While communicating to the House on the composition of the special committee, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula had said that majority side Kenya Kwanza Alliance, which is dominated by President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), would have six slots, minority side Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition four and Jubilee Party one slot.
The list generated by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah (UDA, Kikuyu) had Ms Waqo, the deputy majority whip, Samuel Chepkong’a (UDA, Ainabkoi), George Murugara (UDA, Tharaka), Malulu Injendi (ANC, Malava), Njeri Maina (UDA, Kirinyaga Woman Representative) and Kassim Tandaza (ANC, Matuga).
The Azimio side had deputy minority leader Robert Mbui (Wiper, Kathiani), Tom Kajwang’ (ODM, Ruaraka), Catherine Omanyo (ODM, Busia Woman Representative) and Yusuf Farah (ODM, Wajir West).
The Jubilee Party, though a member of Azimio as per the records at the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) but which Mr Wetang’ula had ruled is a political party while allocating it a chief whip position, had Kitui South MP Rachael Nyamai.
Curiously, all the six members nominated by Mr Ichung’wah to the committee, with the exception of one, voted to oppose the formation of the committee to investigate Mr Linturi.
They were Ms Waqo, Mr Murugara, Mr Injendi, Ms Maina and Mr Tandaza. Dr Nyamai, who is allied with Kenya Kwanza, also voted to oppose the formation of the committee. Mr Chepkong’a, who was within the chambers, neither vote for or against the motion and did not record his abstention.
From the Azimio side, only Mr Kajwang’ and Ms Omanyo voted for the establishment of the committee to investigate Mr Linturi.
Mr Mbui and Mr Farah neither abstained nor voted for or against the motion and it was not clear whether they were in the chambers or not during voting.
“You could even tell those who wanted Mr Linturi saved with how they were behaving during the committee hearings. If the leader of majority wanted justice for farmers, he should have nominated level-headed MPs to the committee,” the MP said.
MPs Kangogo Bowen (Marakwet East), Dr Makali Muli Mulu (Kitui Central) and Jared Okelo are some of those who raised doubts about the committee’s desire to deliver justice to farmers.
At some point, the MPs wanted the list amended, with Mr Wetang’ula warning the House that if it dared shoot down the list, it would be deemed that Mr Linturi was off the hook.
“I would ask my colleagues to approve the names and wait for the report. If the report is not for the farmer, we are going to do what we did this morning,” said Mr Bowen in reference to the overwhelming decision of the House to establish the committee.
Dr Mulu said the selection of the committee members without consultations was bound to backfire on the House.
“The worst thing you can do is to start with a statement of mistrust. It would have been better if we started from a position of 100 percent trust in this team. From the look of things, we are not at 100 percent,” said Dr Mulu.
