Members of the National assembly's Public Accounts Committee are irked by an opinion published in the Star yesterday disparaging its members, and have summoned its author Benji Ndolo.
The committee members distanced themselves from the allegations,
terming them as baseless, unfounded and malicious.
Ndolo comments on current affairs in The Star newspaper where he also writes a regular column.
In his opinion Ndolo said members of the Public Accounts and the Public Investments Committee lack integrity and
only attended committee sessions for allowances.
Vice chairman Jackson Rop said PAC was a reputable committee whose integrity has never been questioned.
"The published report by The Star newspaper is not only malicious but puts the integrity of the committee at stake," he said.
Member Timothy Bosire said the allegations would taint the reputation of the committee. “If there is any member who is corrupt, why doesn’t the paper name and shame the member instead of drugging the name of all members in the mud.”
Chairman Nicholas Gumbo said PAC would not take the allegations lightly and it will summon Ndolo to substantiate his claims.
PAC is conducting investigations into the loss of Sh791 million from the National Youth Service.
Yesterday, it met Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro who presented a criminal investigation report on the money was lost.
Retraction and apology
Yesterday, we published an article titled 'Committees' proceedings are pointless farce' by opinion writer Benji Ndolo. In the article, strong and offensive language was used, disparaging the National Assembly's Public Accounts and Public Investment Committees and their members. We retract the article and apologise to both committees and the entire National Assembly.