Matiang’i fails to appear in Parliament for sugar scam probe

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has failed to appear before a joint parliamentary committee probing the importation of contraband sugar worth billions of shillings.

Dr. Matiang’i had been invited to appear before the committee on Tuesday morning to shed more light into the claims he made that sugar imported into the country contained poisonous elements including mercury, copper and lead.

However, Matiang’i, through Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, wrote to the committee asking that the meeting be postponed to a later date as the CS was officiating a three-day summit of the East African Community (EAC) Head of States in Nairobi.

“We wish to respectfully point out that the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government is the host of the summit,” reads the letter signed by Kibicho.

“We therefore reiterate our earlier request of the Committees rescheduling the meeting to a later date.

Matiang’i’s no-show sparked fierce reactions from MPs who accused him of treating the House with contempt, with a majority of the lawmakers demanding that the committee summon the Interior CS.

President Kenyatta will on Tuesday host Presidents Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) as well as a Special Envoy of President Salva Kiir of South Sudan for the 14th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi.