- Select committee is not going to close their eyes to the suffering of Kenyans.
- The verdict of the Committee will not be influenced by politics.
The mess at the Ministry of Agriculture has filled many Kenyans with justifiable rage.
Productivity remains the silver bullet out of the economic hole that most African countries find themselves in the post Covid-19 era.
There is a real need to build food supply chains as a critical facet of the value chain, which would inform the investment priorities in the manufacturing sector.
The supply chains would restore the now frayed food systems. With stronger food systems, we would put a material dent on child mortality as pregnant and lactating mothers would be in a better stead as givers and sustainers of life.
Agriculture remains a sensitive docket high up with the ministries of Interior, Treasury, Health and Foreign Affairs.
The privilege to head any of these ministries is the ultimate compliment in the life of a public servant.
You have a real chance to directly impact the lives of ordinary people who, left on their own, would not have the economic power and the political sophistication to lift themselves out of poverty.
It's against this backdrop that we must look at the role of Parliament as an accountability institution vis-a-vis the fertiliser scandal.
The charge is that infrastructure of the Ministry of Agriculture and the attendant parastatals were used to supply to farmers what was far from being fertiliser.
In its sitting , the National Assembly set up an 11-member committee to investigate the three charges against the Cabinet Secretary.
Considering the gravity of this matter, going to the very core of our sovereignty, food security, this is one impeachment that is going to be devoid of politics.
I put it here very boldly that the members of the select committee are not going to close their eyes to the suffering of Kenyans due to personal greed, illegitimate commercial interests and/or sheer incompetence of the responsible minister.
To salvage the wonderful work that the president did in the agriculture sector in the last one year, Kenya Kwanza members are likely to bundle together with their Azimio counterparts to buy a one way-ticket for the CS to Meru.
Convenor of Inter-Parties Youth Forum spoke to the Star