The vetting exercise for Agriculture Cabinet Secretary nominee Mithika Linturi was characterized by occasional drama as he struggled to respond to concerns raised regarding his suitability for the job.
National Assembly speaker, Moses Wetangula and his deputy, Gladys Shollei, cut him short several times, arguing that he was deviating from answering critical questions.
Wetangula urged him to stick to the dictates of the vetting exercise by answering the questions as required rather than anticipating a tough cross-examination.
"There is a story about the witness who talked too much. You are just volunteering irrelevant information. You are not at liberty to anticipate any questions, you only answer the questions asked by the members.
"What I will be asking you to do and I am sure you have been watching some of the proceedings from your colleagues, is who is Mithika Linturi, I was born here, I have grown here, I experienced these challenges, I surmounted them,” Wetangula stated while warning him against preempting questions raised on his integrity record.
Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei also raised her concerns, noting that the nominee was wasting time on irrelevant questions.
"I am beginning to think the nominee is avoiding explaining how he will transform the docket and the country.
"He is spending too much time on questions that are not relevant to this particular docket," Shollei rebuked Linturi, his compatriot at Kenya Kwanza alliance.
Linturi was haunted by his past cases, some of which were dropped, as the committee sought clarity regarding the fate of the suits filed against him.
However, the members appeared to be impatient with Linturi's continued deviation from the questions posed to him.
Linturi had pleaded with the speaker to guide the committee on discussing matters that were still pending in court, citing the limitation of the sub judice rule, a law which prohibits discussion of matters under the court's consideration.
“Mr Speaker, having been an MP and understanding our practice, I want you to guide me on how I need to proceed in answering questions where I may end up discussing matters before courts for determination.
"When I see it, I am so happy but regretful at the same time because of that sub judice rule probably I may not be able to explain to this country properly who Mithika Linturi is,” Linturi stated.
Among the matters raised by the committee include a case where Linturi was charged with attempted rape and the validity of his academic credentials. The committee also questioned his alleged involvement in forgery to access loans.
"As I sit here, I have 35 cases in the court of civil nature, and the only criminal case is the attempted rape case," Linturi confirmed.
The series of questions posed to the nominee appeared to have mounted pressure as he resorted to taking the committee through circles. His responses attracted the attention of Suna East legislator, Junet Mohammed, who humorously asked the speaker to calm down the nominee.
"I am sitting next to the nominee and to avoid the exercise escalating into a serious health crisis, Mr Speaker, ask the nominee to breathe normally," Junet trolled Linturi.
Despite explaining his agenda, from using biodata to access farmers and coordinating President William Ruto's administration to harness water, the committee felt he was short in clarifying key issues such as the reintroduction of Genetically Modified Organism crops, scaling production of tea and coffee and solving the sugar crisis in the country.
"The sugar industry is a source of employment for many people in Kenya, if approved for the position, I will endeavour to have a serious discussion with all the players, including the government to see how best we can revive these industries," Linturi stated.
