Matiang'i misses out on sugar probe

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi during a past house committee session. He has skipped session probing sugar scandal. [File, Standard]

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has skipped the joint parliamentary committee probing how suspect sugar found its way into the country.

This is the second time Matiangi has failed to show up before the National Assembly’s joint Committee on Agriculture and Trade after he skipped the Monday session.

In a letter dated June 26 to the committee, the CS requested the committee to schedule the grilling as he was engaged in EAC heads of state summit that is being hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“Our earlier communication later had stated that the Summit was convened for June 26 and 27 on which the days the three committees sough the Cabinet Secretaries attendance. However, the correct dates of the Summit were 25 to 27 June 2018. We regret the mix up,” it read in part.

Matiangi’s move drew the anger of members of the committee who accused him of wanting to waste their time.

Yesterday, Cabinet Secretaries traded blames on the seized sugar and presented contradicting figures of total imports.

Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri passed the blame to the National Treasury for opening a window for unregulated imports that unscrupulous traders preyed on.

His Trade counterpart Henry Roticg denied the claims, saying it was up to the licensing agency which falls under Kiunjuri’s docket.

Recently, CS Matiangi closed ranks with Industrialisation CS Adan Mohamed with whom he had differed on over the impounded sugar.

Adan had denied claims the sugar had mercury as alluded by Matiangi.

After a raid at a Mombasa godown, the duo released a joint statement reiterating their commitment to fighting contraband in the country.

In a unified stance, they described the sugar as ‘contaminated’, owing it to the poor storage of the consignment.

“To the best of our knowledge, there is no indication of anything like mercury that has been found in any of those sugars,” it read.

The joint committee chaired by Kanini Kega have now given Matiangi his last chance to show up. They have directed him to appear before them on Thursday at 8.30am.