James Murimi and Anthony Mwangi @Jamesmurymy
The Afya House multi-billion-shilling saga has kicked a major storm in the National Assembly Health Committee with a section of members plotting to oust the chairperson Rachael Nyamai (Kitui South) and her deputy Robert Pukose (Endebess), for allegedly shielding ministry officials from scrutiny.
A group of MPs in the committee claimed the duo had been hampering investigations into the suspected scam that is said to have led to the loss of more than Sh5 billion. So intense is the fight in the Health team, that a meeting scheduled with Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet was called off at the last minute yesterday following the divisions.
Reports emerged that the meeting was indefinitely cancelled because some members, led by Matungulu MP Stephen Mule, had planned to disrupt the session and call for the removal of the duo through a petition.
Speaking to the media, Mule said the postponement of the meeting was done via text messages in the morning, claiming it was meant to divert the members attention from the ouster bid. By yesterday morning, sources in the committee said 20 of the 29 members had signed the petition seeking to remove the two.
Mule termed the postponement of the meeting as “gimmicks being used by the government to cover up graft in the country”. “What has happened is very unethical because for the first time I have seen a committee meeting being postponed through an SMS and WhatsApp.
The message was meant to bring confusion and a cover up for members not to execute their petition,” said Mule. “Lobbying will not deter members of this committee from executing the petition. Whoever is trying to outwit the committee will meet members next Tuesday,” said Mule.
Lobbying
But speaking separately to the media, deputy chair Dr Pukose absolved the committee’s leadership from blame, saying that the MPs calling for their ouster have been compromised.
“In the past, any attempt to probe Afya House has been met with resistance. The same is happening now. It is sad that some members of the committee have chosen to politicise this very important issue,” Pukose said.
“It is all sideshows meant to derail the process. How can some MPs say we are sabotaging a process that has not yet started?” Pukose posed as he accused some of the MPs of being compromised by corrupt cartels.
Leader of Majority and Garissa Town MP Aden Duale rubbished claims by some MPs that Jubilee has been frustrating investigations into the scandal, saying that the reports were unfounded. “If there was such a petition, it must pass through me or the Clerk. Personally, I have not seen the petition,” said Duale.
But Mule said: “There was a lot of lobbying and text messages. Some of the members have even opted to switch off their phones because they are being sought left, right and centre to withdraw their signatures”.
Mule accused the committee leadership of barring members from asking questions during their recent visit to the National Youth Service (NYS) yard in Miritini, Mombasa County where they were inspecting 100 portable clinics that were bought by the Health ministry at a cost of Sh1 billion.
“In Mombasa, there was acrimony between members and the leadership of the committee. We agreed to do thorough work and resolved to do a petition to oust the chair and the vice chair. They don’t want this matter to be investigated fully. We cannot investigate this issue with the current leadership.
They need to step aside so that we can have a new leadership that is sober and can get to the bottom of this matter and tell Kenyans the truth,” said the MP. Mule, Fred Outa (Nyando) James Nyikal (Seme) and several other MPs vowed to push for the ouster bid on Tuesday next week.
Meanwhile, Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter has written to Speaker Justin Muturi requesting him to allow for a forensic audit of the Ministry of Health to be done by an independent audit firm. “The alleged scandal is a serious matter of public concern and this independent audit will assist in unearthing the truth behind the alleged loss of Sh5b in the ministry,” Keter wrote.
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