I did not take bribe to reject sugar probe report, says Alfred Keter

Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter at Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa for the joint retreat of the Procedure and House Rules Committee, House Business Committee and the Liaison Committee, August 10, 2018. /BRIAN OTIENO
Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter at Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa for the joint retreat of the Procedure and House Rules Committee, House Business Committee and the Liaison Committee, August 10, 2018. /BRIAN OTIENO

Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter has said he is not one of the MPs allegedly compromised to reject the sugar probe report that a committee presented in Parliament

on Thursday.

Bribery claims rocked Parliament as MPs ganged up to trash the report that implicated Cabinet secretaries Henry Rotich (Treasury) and Adan Mohamed (EAC).

However, Minority leader John Mbadi made reference to the bribery claims when he shot up to oppose amendments to the report. Majority leader Aden Duale also gave credence to reports that MPs pocketed paltry amounts to sacrifice the public interest.

Details:

Keter, one of the most vocal legislators opposed to the report, said he was not compromised by anyone.

"I heard that from the media. I was not compromised. They have no capacity to compromise Keter," he said on Friday.

He spoke during the joint retreat of the Procedure and House Rules Committee, House Business Committee and the Liaison Committee at Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa.

The lawmaker pointed out that the report victimised people who had nothing to do with specific answers on the safety of sugar, as asked by people including Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda.

Keter also said the joint agriculture and trade committee that tabled the report formulated its own questions and answered them.

The MP recommended that other house committees pick aspects of the document for their own investigations, a suggestion that his Suna East counterpart Junet Mohamed opposed.

Junet said

no other committee should use public resources for a probe based on the report that

MPs termed shoddy and off mark.

"This matter does not need any more House committees to be probed," he said, but noted that the rejection of the report does not mean the end of the investigation.

"Institutions like the DCI and the Government Chemist must take up the matter," he said.

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