• The legislator said his proposal was meant to increase the punishment meted out on corruption suspects.
• Speaker Justin Muturi wants the media to apologise for distorting facts.
Parliament engaged in a heated exchange on Wednesday after Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro denied he proposed a bill to clip the DPP and DCI's powers.
The legislator said his proposal was meant to increase the punishment meted out on corruption suspects and not to trim the powers of state officers.
Nyoro accused the media of blowing his proposal out of proportion. He said the situation has exposed him to public attacks.
Nyoro said the bill only seeks to amend the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act to introduce a Sh1 million fine or 10-year jail time, or both, for corruption suspects.
“There have been attacks on the bill and the proposer, including misinformation that the bill is aimed at curtailing the powers of the DCI and DPP," he told Parliament yesterday.
"The deliberate misinformation is an affront to the legislative authority of this House and the individual members.”
Nyoro said the effect of the distortion would set a precedence where MPs would be discouraged from proposing bills and supporting the legislation.
He said the distorted views risk jeopardising efforts to sell the bill to wananchi for their input.
I request that you rule that our committee should inquire into this matter and impose sanctions on media houses that distort and misrepresent this House.Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro
Trouble started after Nyoro castigated ODM leader Raila Odinga for condemning the proposal to clip powers of the independent investigative and prosecutorial agencies.
MPs allied to Raila took a swipe at the MP, accusing him of only backtracking after the bill generated heat.
They took issue with the MP and his Kikuyu counterpart Kimani Ichung’wa for referring to those who condemned the bill as ‘illiterate’.
Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala was cut short as he tried to explain that the issue emerged from the ‘Tangatanga movement’ campaigns.
Ichung’wa criticised MPs for taking legislative issues outside Parliament to churches and funerals.
He attacked Raila, saying it is shameful that someone of the stature of the former Prime Minister can call Nyoro a madman. The attack rubbed Raila's allies the wrong way.
During the launch of Huduma Namba in Mombasa on Tuesday, Raila condemned attempts to clip powers of the two agencies, saying those moving the remarks ‘are mad’.
The Kikuyu MP received flak from Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga after he claimed that “he could forgive Nominated MP Maina Kamanda for not understanding the bill.”
Rising on her feet, Wanga said Nyoro himself spoke of the issues involving the plot to clip the DCI and DPP powers. She said Raila cannot be made a point of ridicule by MPs.
“I will not take back my words. The member said one of the objects of the bill would be to clip DCI and DPP powers.”
Wanga took a swipe at Ichung’wa for implying that MP Kamanda could not understand the bill.
“Just by the mere fact that Ichung’wa went to Alliance High does not make him wise. We will not be taken round in circles. The DPP and DCI cannot be stopped from fighting corruption,” she said.
Speaker Justin Muturi said one would need an amendment to Section 157 to clip powers of the DCI and DPP, an amendment which needs the support of two-thirds of the House.
He condemned the media for second-guessing the proposal, saying the issues generating heat are not before the House.
“The media should offer an appropriate apology to Hon Nyoro and to the National Assembly for telling Kenyans stories that could be a figment of their fertile imagination,” Muturi said.
The proposal sparked a political storm since the weekend when the Kiharu MP made reference to the purported legislation.
DPP Noordin Haji wrote to the Speaker expressing his reservations on the purported bill.