I Was Offered Ksh.3M To Save Linturi – MP Omanyo Claims
Busia Woman Rep Catherine Omanyo.
William Ruto should have fired CS Linturi right when the fake fertilizer rip-off on Kenyan farmers came to public attention.
How does the president let his CS in the most critical ministry take down the Kenyan farmers which is the most crucial job for the Ruto’s presidency.
If William Ruto cared for Kenyans and for the country he would have fired Linturi off the bat and would not have waited for and then help dismantle a committee of parliament to impeach the CS. Ruto has the power to simply call Linturi and tell him he has been fired and that would be the end of the story.
President William Ruto helping his workers till his farm in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county on April 9, 2024.
CS Linturi given ultimatum as another company exposed for fake fertilizers
The Law Society of Kenya on Monday wrote a letter to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi demanding action over the theft of fake fertilizers in the market.
In the letter signed by LSK president Faith Adhiambo, the society accused the CS of taking shortcuts to address the menace which they said had cost many farmers their livelihood.
LSK accused the CS of constantly quarreling with journalists reporting on the matter and revoking licenses without carrying out proper investigations.
“Worse still, there are confirmed cases of fake fertilizers being sold to unsuspecting farmers, greatly endangering farmers’ production and income. The National Fertilizer Subsidy Program (NFSP), which was launched as a source of relief for farmers, has now been reduced to a fraud conduit to extract money from unsuspecting farmers who are burdened by inflexible investment in fake fertilizers,” the statement reads in part.
“The overall consequence of these failures is that farmers have failed to break even, they have lost significant sums of money buying fake fertilizers and the agricultural sector has fallen into crisis at a time when Kenyans are facing economic realities. “tense people who cannot survive food insecurity.”
“When not attacking journalists, the CS has resorted to shock and fear tactics, breaking into manufacturing plants and seeking to revoke licenses, all without conducting proper investigations or providing any clear policy decision by the Ministry on the matter,” Faith added
Meanwhile, in the media, Busia Woman Rep Catherine Omanyo has claimed that someone tried to bribe her to write a favorable report in the impeachment case against embattled Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi.
In an interview with Citizen TV, Omanyo said most of the committee members who were tasked with determining the fate of Linturi were approached with bribes to favour the CS.
“Someone came to me with Ksh.2 million, and another came saying the money had increased to Ksh.3 million because the report against Linturi was hot. At some point these people asked me to state what I wanted to favour the CS,” Omanyo said.
She revealed that the committee members were given bribes, but some declined to be compromised.
“It was very heated during committee sittings. At some point, we almost got physical because of the bribery within the committee. We had to retreat to cool off before we resumed sittings,” Omanyo added.
She said the allegations against Linturi were glaring and there was no way he was supposed to escape blame in the fake fertiliser saga.
Linturi survived impeachment when seven out of the 11 committee members voted in his favour.
But Speaker Moses Wetangula dismissed the lawmakers’ allegations, saying: “You cannot cast aspersions against your colleagues without a specific motion against any or several of them.”
National Assembly Minority Leader James Opiyo Wandayi
Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi on his part termed the committee’s decision as a case of the Houses’ decision being revoked by a group of seven people.
“There is a higher moral responsibility on the cabinet secretary and the appointing authority, following the overwhelming 149-against-36 vote in this House last Thursday. This matter should not even have gone to the select committee stage,” said Wandayi.
He urged Parliament to refuse to recognize Linturi as the minister for Agriculture, until President Ruto yields and dismisses the CS.
Billlow Kerrow, a former senator told Kenyans that “The verdict of the committee is not surprising. There were no indications that the government would allow this to be done impartially. It seemed that the majority leader was not in support of the vote by 149 MPs,” Kerrow told Citizen TV.
“The CS went on to attend government and State House meetings. One would have expected that the decision by MPs was enough for the president to say the CS could not attend a meeting because he had a corruption case,” added Kerrow.
Kerrow argued that the committee’s decision on Monday “was from the Executive or an attempt to save one of their own.”
And just when Kenyans are getting buried in theft and corruption by state officials and Ruto’s friends and political partners, the president had the nerve to hand over Sh. 21 billion allegedly to fight corruption. It is a terrible insult to Kenyans that the same government that robs them of everything is now allocating itself Sh. 21 billion of public money to pretend to be fighting corruption. That huge amount is going to the pockets of the thieves in government.
Ruto allocates Sh21 billion more to combat corruption
President says state won’t hesitate to make its contribution to enhance accountability
President William Ruto has announced an increase in the budgetary allocation to sectors combating corruption and promoting justice and accountability from Sh87 billion to Sh108 billion in the current financial year.
Speaking during the swearing-in of 20 new High Court Judges at the State House on Tuesday, Ruto said the increase aims at ensuring the sectors are effective and efficient.
Ruto noted that this is because the nation’s economy and security and the people’s rights and freedoms depend on it.
“To support these efforts, we have increased budgetary allocations to sectors combating corruption, and promoting justice and accountability since the 2022-23 financial year, from Sh87 billion to Sh108 billion in the current financial year,” Ruto said.
The President emphasised that the government will not hesitate to make its contribution to the enhancement of sectors combating corruption, and promoting justice and accountability.
Ex-Treasury CS Henry Rotich appointed by president Ruto As Senior Advisor
President William Ruto appointed former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich as Senior Advisor on Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy. Rotich’s appointment comes barely two months after he was acquitted in the Ksh.63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams mega scandal.
The former Treasury CS and eight other co-accused were set free by Magistrate Eunice Nyutu who found that prosecution failed to lead the case and that there was no evidence tabled in court to Rotich and eight others failed to follow procurement laws in the Ksh.63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams case.
Here the DPP refused to prosecute the case and that can only come from direct orders from President Ruto himself.
In the meantime Kenyans need to be very happy because the schools are re-opening after the floods that damaged the whole country.
