The Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations led by Judah Katoo Ole-Metito (Kajiado South) on Thursday questioned former Airforce Commander Samuel Thuita Ng'ang'a over his confusing identity.
Thuita was recently appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta as the Kenyan Ambassador to Israel but the legislators noted how his name in the National Identity Card differed with other documents presented during vetting.
South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro posed: "All your documents indicate you are Samuel Thuita Ng'ang'a while your ID indicates you are Sammy Thuita Ng'ang'a".
However, Thuita defended the disparity indicating that: "The error was at the point I got into the military. Someone decided to shorten my name from Samuel to Sammy".
"I can immediately furnish the committee with an affidavit to settle the name mix up; I just got my ID back last week from the military," he clarified.
Thuita further told the parliament that he would convert his military experience "to soft power and ensure that we all work as a team".
The appointee to Israel further defended Kenya's' incursion into Somalia in October 2011 dubbed "Operation Linda Nchi" indicating that the Kenya Defence Forces are likely to stay longer.
"There is a lot that could have gone bad if we were not in Somalia. That I know for sure. But I wouldn't want to say more.
"Does it mean that if we remove our troops from Somalia we will be more peaceful? No. We must remain there as part of the AMISOM troops until Somalia is pacified or until we have a new more effective strategy," the airforce boss indicated.
[caption caption="Former Kenya Air Force Commander Major General Samuel Thuita comforting the family of the late Major General Francis Nthenge"]
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Other appointees vetted by the Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations include Sarah Jepkemboi Serem (former SRC), Francis Ndegwa Muhoro (former DCI boss), former Kasipul Kabondo MP Paddy Ahenda, and Manoah Esipisu (former State House spokesperson).
