GLANCE FACTS
TEN QUESTIONS MPs ARE ASKING
-Why did police fail to secure scene of crash?
- Why was Iteere first at scene but left shortly?
-Why was Saitoti family not briefed on probe team?
- Why did State frustrate South African experts till they left?
- Is there a possible drug-link to chopper crash?
-Is Kimunya’s ministry co-operating in probe?
- Shouldn’t Kimunya let someone else speak on behalf of Government?
-Why is State shifting positions on investigations?
-Why has State left a vacuum for speculation?
-Why should Iteere and Transport PS not step aside?
By ALLAN KISIA and MARTIN MUTUA
Was the June 10 police helicopter crash that killed former Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, his assistant Joshua Ojode and four others the work of drug cartels?
This was the burning question Parliament asked Thursday as it accused the Government of shoddy investigations, cover-up and even outright frustration of the probe team.
It is also the question that rekindled bad memories of Kenya’s unresolved murder cases, such as those of Dr Robert Ouko, Tom Mboya and JM Kariuki, as well as the unexplained air crash that killed former Roads minister Kipkalya Kones and former Sotik MP Lorna Laboso on the same June 10 date in 2008.
Angry MPs pointed fingers at the Government demanding answers to the pending questions on the crash, with one member sensationally telling Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim she had information on the crash that, “could shut down this Government.”
As a result, and probably as a sign the House does not take the claim lightly, Deputy Speaker Maalim ordered that Nominated MP Rachel Shebesh who made the claim, saying she could only share what she knows with a Parliamentary Select Committee, be put under tight security.
The MPs expressed fury at the fact that just about three weeks after the crash that killed police pilots Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi, as well as Saitoti’s bodyguards Joshua Tonkei and Thomas Murimi, the country was still left grappling with speculation over what may have brought the chopper down.
Moved by the contributions by members, Maalim allowed them to ventilate their concerns and several times had to caution Transport Minister Amos Kimunya to be sensitive to the views made by members.
The minister was responding as Deputy Leader of Government Business in the House, even though his Transport ministry was accused by MPs of not cooperating with the probe team.
So serious was the matter that at one point Maalim directed the office of the Sergeant-at-Arms to liaise with the Parliament Police Station to enhance the security of Shebesh.
Shebesh dropped her bombshell after Makadara MP Gideon Mbuvi Sonko told the House Saitoti and Ojode were killed because of their efforts to fight drug trafficking.
Sonko went on to give details of how former GSU officer Erastus Kitur Chemorei, who was in charge of the storage of the Sh6.4 billion cocaine haul seized by police in a private villa in Malindi, was felled “by 400 bullets” fired by his own colleagues.
He further tabled rulings of a magistrate court in Eldoret that among other things confirmed Chemorei was murdered by fellow cops.
