Solicitor-General skips Kemsa scam meeting with MPs ogeto

Solicitor-General Kennedy Ogeto. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By EDWIN MUTAI
More by this Author

Summary

• Solicitor-General Kennedy Ogeto Monday skipped a planned session with a parliamentary committee to discuss the irregular expenditure of Sh7.8 billion in the procurement of Covid-19-related items by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).
• A representative from the Solicitor-General’s office, Joshua Bwire, told the National Assembly’s Public Investments committee (PIC) that Mr Ogeto was away attending to matters on the Kenya maritime dispute with Somalia.
• The committee, however, declined to engage Mr Bwire, insisting that the Solicitor-General appears in person over the Kemsa issue.

Solicitor-General Kennedy Ogeto Monday skipped a planned session with a parliamentary committee to discuss the irregular expenditure of Sh7.8 billion in the procurement of Covid-19-related items by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).

A representative from the Solicitor-General’s office, Joshua Bwire, told the National Assembly’s Public Investments committee (PIC) that Mr Ogeto was away attending to matters on the Kenya maritime dispute with Somalia.

The committee, however, declined to engage Mr Bwire, insisting that the Solicitor-General appears in person over the Kemsa issue.

“You are a very junior officer in the name of personal assistant. We want to deal with the Solicitor-General in person. The issue we are discussing is in billions of shillings,” Abdulswamad Nassir, the PIC chairman said before dismissing the officer.

The committee is scrunising a special audit opinion on the procurement of Covid-19 related items where taxpayers may have lost Sh2.3 billion due to inflation of prices.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) last week said it resubmitted the inquiry file to DPP on October 22, 2020 upon completion of investigations as directed by Mr Noordin Haji.