Africa Uncensored chief executive and founder John-Allan Namu who is the first witness to appear before the Senate Agriculture Committee revealed that some influential political leaders both outside and inside parliament reached out to him in attempts to convince him not to air an exclusive story on fake fertiliser scandal being witnessed.
According to Namu, his organisation has been carrying out wide investigation on public procurement since 2018 and that the fake fertiliser scandal cuts across the Uhuru Kenyatta and the William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza’s administrations.
Namu was categorical that investigative bodies should look at the issue of complacency among senior officials of state agencies since the issue did not raise concerns among the relevant actors all this time.
“I would like to inform this committee that politicians across the political divide might have been involved in this fake fertiliser conspiracy, some of them even reached out to me seeking to have African Uncensored not to air this story where the majority of those affected are small scale farmers,” said Namu.
He said he was ready to provide evidence about the politicians who approached him to kill his story, and was ready to appear in court. He told the committee the report looked at public procurement since 2018 and that the fake fertiliser scandal cut across the previous and current administrations.
Committee chairman Kirinyaga Senator James Murango said Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi and the chief executive officers of Kenya Bureau of Standards and Kenya National Trading Corporation will appear before it to shed light on prevalent claims of fake farm inputs.
Murango said the Auditor General, National Environment Management Authority CEO and the individuals mentioned adversely in an expose launched by media investigations team; the African Uncensored, have been invited to appear before the committee to clear the air about the well-executed scandal.
Murango while terming the fraud as akin to terrorism, charged that action must be taken against the unscrupulous individuals who have not only embarrassed the Kenya Kwanza administration but also posed a threat to food security.
Samson Cherargei (Nandi) said that the roles of National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), Nema, KNTC and Kebs in the fake fertiliser scandal should be investigated further since it appears there was a well-organised criminal enterprise.
“The organisation that has been mentioned adversely by Africa Uncensored for making fake fertiliser has been carrying out its activities openly, the relevant state agencies should come and explain to us why they failed on their duties, heads must roll over this,” said Cherargei.
Namu told the committee that Kebs and Nema have no capacity to deal with the fake fertiliser scandal since they have staff shortages. He said that creates a lapse which some unscrupulous individuals have exploited.
The journalist said he has now been vindicated by the current outcry by Kenyans from various parts of the country. “I would like to tell my fellow journalists that they should not be cowed when they are pursuing stories of public interest like the one we did on fake fertiliser, they should stand up to be counted when fighting for the public good,” said Namu.
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