I will not give a straight answer, Ichung’wah says during Aljazeera interview

National Assembly Majority Leader and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah had difficult moments as he answered questions during Aljazeera’s Head to Head Show.

Speaking during an Interview with Mehdi Hasan, Ichung’wah could not give a straight  answer to some of the questions posed to him.

“How many pledges have been implemented of the 280 promises?” Hasan posed.

“I will not give you a straight answer of two or 10,” Ichung’wah replied prompting Hasan to say he is the first  politician “to say I will not give you a straight answer, just bluntly.”

Hasan noted that Mzalendo, a non-partisan Parliamentary monitoring organisation in Kenya has indicated only 14 pledges of the 280 have been implemented.

“That is the perspective of Mzalendo,”  Ichung’wah stated.

Hasan went on to name free internet, an inquiry into cronyism and state capture, ratification of the international convention on enforced disappearances as some of the pledges that have not been fulfilled.

“He (President William Ruto is yet to ratify but it is work in progress,” Ichung’wah said.

Hasan however pointed out the Ruto administration had promised to launch an inquiry into cronyism in 30 days as stated on page 61 of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto.

“The manifesto is being implemented chapter after chapter. You cannot judge what was to be done in five years in just two years,” Ichung’wah said.

During the interview, Ichung’wah swore that he has never paid a bribe his entire life.

He noted that he was once stopped by a traffic police officer for speeding at the age of 19 but he did not pay a bribe.

“I explained myself out of the situation. You never need to pay a bribe,” he stated.

A guest at the Head to Heads show had indicated that on a recent visit to Kenya, she witnessed rampant corruption.

The woman said she witnessed traffic police officers take bribes along the roads. “My uncle who was driving said that officers commonly take bribes and it happens all the time,” the woman said.

Ichung’wah however explained that it takes two to tangle stating that there has to be a bribe taker and bribe giver.

He said police officers collect bribes on the roads because the motorists who