- The Select Committee will table its report on May 13 during a special sitting.
- Linturi is among other things accused of gross misconduct and abuse of office.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi will in the next 10 days know his fate as the 11-member select committee gets down to consider allegations for his dismissal.
The committee on Thursday elected Marsabit Woman Representative Naomi Waqo as its chairperson as it prepares for marathon sittings to conclude its work.
The committee is expected to start sitting this week and will submit its report to the House on May 13 during a special sitting.
The National Assembly went on a month-long recess but will be forced to convene a special meeting to beat the 10 days constitutional timeline.
During the select committee sittings, the CS will be given a chance to defend himself personally or through a representative.
Linturi becomes the first Cabinet Secretary in President William Ruto’s Cabinet to face impeachment that threatens to end his career.
His accusers will also have a day before the probe team to give evidence of the allegations.
The dismissal motion will hit a dead end if the 11-member committee finds the allegations unsubstantiated.
In case the allegations are substantiated, MPs will vote to approve the resolution requiring the CS to be dismissed.
Before the vote, the CS will again be given a chance to defend himself personally or through a representative before the whole House of Parliament.
Three days before his appearance, the motion plus the supporting evidence shall be provided to him.
“If a resolution requiring the President to dismiss a Cabinet Secretary is supported by a majority of the Members of the National Assembly, the Speaker shall promptly deliver the resolution to the President,” reads Section 66(8) of the National Assembly Standing Orders.
The motion by Bumula MP Jack Wamboka accuses Linturi of gross violation of the Constitution and the law and gross misconduct.
“Furthermore, the allegations of forgery, fraudulent activities and attempts to suppress investigations raise serious questions about the integrity and ethical conduct of those in position of power,” Wamboka said last week in Parliament.
“To regain the trust in this government is by removing Mithika Linturi and he must go by all necessary means.”
The motion further seeks to confer criminal culpability on Linturi for allegedly trying to implore KELS Chemicals chief operating officer Patel Devesh to read to the press a statement crafted by the cereals board.
“His subsequent issuance of the orders closing the factory and declaring it a crime scene, because Mr Devesh of KELS Chemicals refused to participate in the staged press conference, discloses grounds that are serious reasons for believing the CS has committed a crime under national law,” the petition reads.
In the 11-member team, the Majority side fronted six members, Minority is represented by four members while Jubilee has one representative.
Kenya Kwanza is represented in the committee by George Murugara (Tharaka), Jane Njeri (Kirinyaga), Naomi Waqo (Marsabit), Samuel Chepkonga (Ainabkoi), Malulu Injendi (Malava) and Kassim Tandaza (Matuga)
Deputy Minority leader Robert Mbui (Kathiani), Yussuf Farah (Wajir West), Catherine Omanyo (Busia) and TJ Kajwang (Ruaraka) represent the Minority.
Kitui South MP Rachael Nyamai will represent Jubilee Party.