• Then Interior CS Fred Matiang'i admitted before MPs that some of the sugar seized in Nairobi contained with heavy metals like mercury.
• However, what followed in Parliament was a circus that saw the MPs shoot down the report, terming it shoddy amid allegations that they were bribed to do so.
Image: FILE
President William Ruto on Wednesday suspended 27 officials across various regulatory agencies to pave the way for investigations into their alleged involvement in the irregular release of contaminated sugar in the market in 2018.
The sugar had been brought into the country during a duty-free window between May-August in 2017 prompting Parliament to mandate the Trade and Agriculture Committee chaired by then Kieni MP Kanini Kega to unravel the truth.
Then Interior CS Fred Matiang'i admitted before the House that some of the sugar consignment seized in warehouses in Nairobi contained heavy metals like mercury.
The Kanini committee went to work and after months of investigations tabled its report on August 9, 2018, which appeared to agree with what Matiang'i had said-the sugar was contained with heavy metals.
The report had implicated then Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and his EAC counterpart Adan Mohamed over the illegal importation of unfit sugar.
However, what followed in Parliament was a circus that saw the MPs shoot down the report, terming it shoddy amid allegations that they were bribed to do so.
The afternoon session was preceded by MPs converging at the New Wing Bar of the Senate where a 'facilitation fee' of Sh30,000 was allegedly dished out.
The source of the funds wasn't established nor whom it was intended to shield from indictment.
Prior to voting, then Homa Bay woman representative Gladys Wanga had proposed three amendments to the report which would have seen Rotich and Mohamed held accountable over unregulated sugar importation.
Wanga wanted Rotich held accountable for failing to specify the quantity and quality of sugar that was to be imported during the duty-free window.
She also wanted the former CS held responsible for the excess 453,7560 metric tonnes of sugar imported during the waiver period.
MPs rejected this proposal, alongside one where the former woman rep wanted importers who brought in the sugar punished and samples of all the sugar in the country subjected to thorough testing for heavy metals including mercury, lead and copper.
“They should tell us if the sugar in the shelves is safe for consumption or not,” Wanga told the House while moving the amendments.
Amendments by nominated MP Geoffrey Osotsi to compel the government to put an embargo on the importation of sugar and audit the sugar in the market were also rejected.
Attempts by then-Majority Whip Benjamin Washiali to table a letter allegedly written by Bett advising Rotich against issuing an open importation window were rejected by Speaker Justin Muturi as inadmissible.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), the body that regulates food safety in Kenya, also denied that any mercury had been found in the samples seized.
The authority, however, admitted that samples had been found to contain nearly 21mg/kg of copper, more than 10 times the recommended safe level and some traces of lead.
In rejecting the amendments, the Majority leader Aden Duale said there were attempts by some lawmakers to use the sugar report to settle political scores and fire Cabinet secretaries.
Duale also warned against indicting Mohamed for the Kenya Bureau of Standard’s failure to conduct surveillance to make sure poisonous or illegal sugar did not get way into the country.
"Let us use our resources to bring a substantive motion to debate the CSs and not try to impeach them through the back door. The threshold for the impeachment of a CS is so high," Duale said.
The then Minority Leader John Mbadi held the same view and rejected the report saying it lacked requisite evidence to hold Rotich, Mohamed and Bett personally liable.
"I have decided to sacrifice political expedience and do what is right. I have had issues with Rotich on performance but on this one, I don’t find anything Rotich did which was wrong,” Mbadi said.
It was a rare show of unity between the government and the opposition side on the floor of the House.
Frustrated MPs from sugar-growing counties of Western and Nyanza regions convened a press conference after the report was shot down and blamed the House leadership for letting Kenyans down.
Among them was Muhoroni MP Onyango K’Oyoo who the country had lost an opportunity to save the sugar industry.
"Members have given this good debate a raw deal. It is a sad day for this country and most of us from the sugar growing area,” he said.