Mbadi insists sugar report was defective amid bribery claims

National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi has insisted that the sugar report tabled in Parliament was shot down because it was defective.

Mbadi’s sentiments come amid a fallout over the shooting down of the controversial sugar report that has now sucked in Majority Leader Adan Duale following bribery claims that rocked the House last week.

While the two deny involvement in bribe-taking, Mbadi now says that the legislators who feel that justice was not done, can reintroduce the report.

“…Some of us felt the report had deficiencies… Someone has shielded the entities that brought in this sugar… KEBS has been shielded in the report and no mention of any action to be taken against the body that is meant to protect Kenyans against such products,” lamented Mbadi.

Parliament has come under fire after claims emerged that some MPs received kickbacks of between Ksh.10,000 and Ksh.30,000 — depending on one’s political clout — to reject the sugar report prepared by the joint committees of Trade and Industry as well as that of Agriculture.

The Gwassi legislator now says that investigations are still underway adding that he is hopeful that agencies led by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) “will bring this matter to rest and help Kenyans uncover the truth.”

This comes as the Senatorial Public Account and Investment Committee chairman Moses Kajwang’ called on the Senate to open fresh inquiry on the illegal sugar.

In the shoot down of the report, MPs faulted the joint Trade and Agriculture Committee saying the team had been compromised and did not establish whether or not the sugar in the market was safe for human consumption.

South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro also accused the Kanini Kega-Adan Haji led committee of being used to settle political scores instead of focusing on public interest.

The committee had recommended that action be taken against CS Henry Rotich for sanctioning a duty-free window that opened the floodgates for importers to import excess sugar, tax free.

The committee also recommended that any sugar in the country that does not meet the set standards be destroyed within 21 days of the adoption of its report.