- Senator Otieno Kajwang was confused after Governor Muthomi Njuki allegedly escaped being questioned about audit reports
- Senator Samson Cherargei called for severe punishment, calling Njuki’s behavior disrespectful to the Senate
- Njuki denied absconding from parliament during an accountability session with the Senate Public Accounts Committee
Tharaka Governor Nithi Muthomi Njuki has denied allegations that he escaped responsibility after leaving the constituencies without notice.
Source: Facebook
The county boss was expected to appear before the Senate Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, February 3, to answer issues raised by the Auditor General on county spending.
Did Muthomi Njuki escape responsibility?
His absence was discovered after a sergeant was sent to summon him for questioning.
“I have gone up to the first floor, Room 3, where we had allocated a waiting room for him and his messenger, but no one is there, sir. He is not inside. I have wandered around in all the places where he could be found, including the toilets, but he is not there,” he said.
Senator Samson Cherargei he said that the committee must give negative results against the governor, claiming, ‘Njuki is serious and has no respect not only for the Senate but also for the whole parliament.’
“It is sad that he is a former Member of Parliament,” he added.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Otieno Kajwang, said that the action had never happened and was unacceptable, saying that he must be brought before the committee to answer for his conduct.
“His reappearance will not be an invitation of honor. It will be a subpoena. We will have to compel him to appear before this Senate on a date and time to be specified,” he said.
How did Njuki deal with allegations of escaping from parliament?
However, speaking exclusively to TUKO.co.ke, Njuki has disputed claims that he ran away from responsibility, saying that the governor was made to wait for more hours, which is against the established procedure.
Through his communications director, Kennedy Muriithi, the governor arrived at parliament at 3:53 am, ready for the questioning session scheduled for 4 am.
Source: Original
“For two and a half hours, no one spoke to us. Around 12:30 in the evening, I heard that they would see the Kitui governor first. They never informed us. No one spoke to us. By the time we arrived, we expected an official from the committee to inform us that the time had changed but no one did,” he said, citing Standing Order 209, which states that ‘unless a quorum is reached within 30 minutes of the appointed time, the committee meeting The Senate shall adjourn until the same time on the same day or such next date as the chairman of the committee may appoint.’
Muriithi denied the claim of being given a waiting room, saying he found an empty committee room on the first floor near Room 4, where their meeting was supposed to take place and invited Njuki to wait there.
Furthermore, he claimed that the Senate began its search for the governor at 5 pm, a few hours after the scheduled time.
The county also confirmed that it would honor the subpoena.
“We will come and explain ourselves because we did not run as claimed,” he confirmed.
How did Khalif respond to allegations of spending KSh 55.9m to buy seedlings
Elsewhere, Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif faced tough questions from senators regarding the purchase of saplings worth KSh 55.9 million, according to the Auditor General’s report for the 2024/2025 financial year.
The meeting aimed to clarify many expenditures, including KSh 32.8 million on water monitoring, KSh 349 million on relief food, and KSh 12 million in cash transfers for the elderly.
In the middle of the debate, Khalif claimed that the seedlings were distributed to more than 6,000 registered farmers along the rivers and rain fields in the country.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
