Wajir Woman Representative Fatuma Gedi has been found guilty of breaching House privileges in connection to a leaked sex tape involving her.
The National Assembly's Powers and Privilege Committee chaired by Speaker Justin Muturi on Wednesday reprimanded the lawmaker, saying she was guilty of leaking confidential house communication to the media.
The committee said its probe found Gedi guilty of breaching the Leadership and Integrity Act. In its report, the team faults Gedi for a serious breach of House privileges.
The committee has been probing alleged leakage of communication of confidential information between the clerk’s office and DCI. The video was leaked to the media.
The correspondence dated February 21, 2019 was in regard to investigation into a sex tape linked to Wajir MP.
Gedi had dismissed as fake the video that went viral in December last year and which saw blogger Douglas Mbaya arrested and arraigned in Nairobi for allegedly circulating the offensive video.
According to the committee findings, Gedi coerced a parliamentary officer identified as Noor Mohamed Adan who was assigned to transmit the high confidential letter to DCI to give her the letter.
“He (Noor) also averred that the member approached him in confidence and asked if he could locate the documents from DCI. The officer initially declined as he found it ‘absurd, difficult and irregular’ but he eventually handed the documents to the member reluctantly and repeatedly indicated that she intended to use them for parliamentary business,” the committee’s report says.
Detectives investigating the tape had zeroed in on four MPs whom they wanted to record statements at DCI headquarters.
The lawmakers included Aden Keynan (Eldas), Abdihakim Mohamed (Fafi), Rehema Jaldesa of Isiolo and Kirinyaga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici.
Keynan, Jaldesa and Ngirici protested to the Speaker in writing expressing displeasure with the leakage and demanded to know who colluded with the media in circulating the information.
On Wednesday, the committee tabled its report before the House putting Gedi at the centre of the leakage.
“The evidence submitted to the committee discloses that Hon Fatuma Gedi directly used information obtained through or in connection with her office as MP and which was not available in the public domain, for the furtherance of a private interest contrary to Section 22 of the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012,” the report says.
“The committee recommends that the House reprimands Gedi for conducting herself in a manner that reflected adversely on the dignity and integrity of the National Assembly and its members.”
edited by peter obuya
