Claims of diluted sugar report emerge as Muturi halts debate

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But two MPs - Simba Arati (Dagoretti North) and Daniel Maanzo (Makueni) - had other ideas. They opposed an attempt to shield Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, his East African Community counterpart Adan Mohammed and Kenya's Ambassador to India Willy Bett from action. The three were adversely mentioned in the draft report. Furious members of the joint committee co-chaired by Kanini Kega (Kieni - trade) and Adan Haji (Mandera East -Agriculture) openly faced off and even held a meeting in the dining hall in Parliament without their leaders to seek a way forward. Potential showdown But Mr Muturi’s directive saved the committee from a potential showdown, as the MPs had earlier threatened to rally members to reject the report.SEE ALSO :Why MPs are worried over Sugar taskforce as tenure extended
The speaker approved "the suggested amendments be considered by this House" and directed the House Business Committee to prioritise it for next week. Mr Arati and Mr Maanzo are members of the committee probing the presence of contaminated sugar in the country. The sugar is suspected to contain mercury and copper. According to the two MPs, the committee members had recommended that the three State officers should be held responsible for their actions, which they said opened the floodgates for cheap sugar imports. According to the draft, Rotich should be held responsible for excess importation of sugar and consequent tax evasion based on Gazette Notice numbers 4536, 9801, 9802 and 10149 issued last year.