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Fake fertiliser scandal: CS Linturi will not be impeached, insiders claim

Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi before the National Assembly Select Committee on his Proposed Dismissal on May 8, 2024. (Photo: National Assembly)

By Eastleigh Voice Reporter | Monday, May 13, 2024

CS Linturi's survival seems assured, as Article 152 (9) grants final authority to the recommendations put forth by the committee.

Insiders claim that the special National Assembly committee investigating Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, over the fake fertiliser scandal, has absolved him and spared him impeachment.

Sources privy to the investigations told The Eastleigh Voice that the Special Committee of 11 members has voted 7-4 to dismiss all charges levelled against Linturi.

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If the voting transpires as exposed, Linturi's survival seems assured, as Article 152 (9) grants final authority to the recommendations put forth by the committee.

Article 152(9) says that if the select committee reports that it finds the allegations unsubstantiated, no further proceedings shall be taken.

If found guilty, a report will be forwarded to the National Assembly, which will afford the Cabinet Secretary an opportunity to be heard. Thereafter, Members of Parliament will vote on whether to approve the resolution requiring the Cabinet Secretary to be dismissed.

"If a resolution requiring the President to dismiss a Cabinet Secretary is supported by a majority of the members of the National Assembly, the Speaker shall promptly deliver the resolution to the President, who will dismiss the CS," the Constitution dictates.

Allegations levelled against Linturi

While tabling the impeachment motion, Bumula MP Jack Wamboka argued the CS should be held liable for gross violation of the Constitution or any other law, committing a crime under national law, and gross misconduct.

He argued that there were reasons to believe CS Linturi committed a crime under the national law involving offences relating to abuse of office and false claims. MP Wamboka further alleged that Linturi committed a crime of forgery, uttering false documents, and procuring the execution of documents by false pretences, contrary to sections 353 and 355 of the penal code.

At the centre of Linturi's woes was the fake fertiliser scandal, which attracted nationwide condemnation.

149 MPs out of 188 members who were in the House voted in support of the motion against 36 who opposed it. Three MPs abstained from voting.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, guided by the constitution, then asked the House to form a committee of 11 members drawn from the Kenya Kwanza alliance, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, and the Jubilee Party.

The committee members included MPs Naomi Waqo (Kenya Kwanza), Robert Mbui (Azimio), Rachael Nyamai (Jubilee), Samuel Chepkonga (Kenya Kwanza), George Murugara (Kenya Kwanza), T.J. Kajwang (Azimio), and Njeri Maina (Kenya Kwanza).

A screenshot of the Constitution's Chapter 9 (152) on appointment and dismissal of a Cabinet Secretary