Nairobi,KENYA:The sugar saga seems to be far from over after it emerged that the government chemist failed to appear before the joint Agriculture and Trade committee of National Assembly amid allegations that he was around parliamentary precincts .
The issue elicited a heated debate between members of the joint committees when Machakos women rep Joyce Kamene raised concerns over why the officer did not appear before the committee despite the fact that he was around parliamentary buildings.
The witness was supposed to appear before the committee to table his report on the results of sugar after testing it to ascertain whether it entailed Mercury, Copper components in the commodity.
The members tasked the chair to put the record straight as to why the officer left despite allegations that he was around parliamentary buildings.
“Chair now that there is a signed certificate, by one SG Njoroge, who is the government chemist, because you will tell us that he was to appear before us, but that chair does not stop us from indulging you that that person appears.”Dagoretti North member of parliament Simba Arati said
The members wanted the committee to proceed after receiving the report without the witness indicating that the document was authentic as it entailed signature but the chairs declined to carry on with the meeting.
The committee indicated that it was not privy to the matter, and it opted to form a mini committee chaired by Dagoretti North Member of Parliament Simba Arati to chair it and ascertain the truth of the matter insisting that Kamene’s assertion is a serious allegation which must be settled.
The chairs of the committee Kanini Kega and Adan Ali were forced to adjourn the meeting until Thursday to continue with the probe.
Kenyans are in anticipating mood to know the results of the report from the government chemist after emergence of conflicting reports from various government agencies whether the commodity entails the copper and mercury components.
