Members of Parliament on Thursday, March 16, summoned former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani over the Ksh6 billion Telkom buyout saga.
Members of the Departmental Committee on Finance made the decision in their endeavour to unearth the legitimacy of the deals made in the alleged scandal involving officials in former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.
Former Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua was also summoned by the committee to answer questions on the same takeover.
The alarm bell in the matter was rung after MPs declined to approve budget allocation to pay for the buyout of the shares citing a lack of transparency.
It was alleged that senior government officials in the former regime oversaw the transaction of the Ksh6 billion four days before the 2022 General Election without seeking regularisation from the relevant offices.
Subsequently, the Finance Committee under the leadership of Molo Member of Parliament Kuria Kimani undertook to investigate the process followed in the withdrawal and payment of the Ksh6 billion at the onset of the election period.
If he appears, Yatani will be the first CS from the former regime to answer questions relating to decisions made during their tenure in office.
However, members of the committee reiterated that the summon did not indict any of the mentioned officials but was an effort to shed light on the dealings.
"Facts will emerge and we will with the facts as they are unearthed. This is an open-ended matter and we have not indicted anyone in the case,” Eldas MP Adan Keynan noted during the session.
On his part, Chairperson Kuria Mimani maintained that the grilling sessions will be open to the public through media.
He emphasised that members of the committee were obliged to ensure transparency in their operations as representatives of the people.
"We agreed as the Committee of Finance that all our proceedings will be open to the public. Committee sittings are an extension of the National Assembly and we shall continue to invite members of the press to cover these proceedings," Kuria noted.
Notably, CS Yatani's name was also made in revelations by the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o in her report on the alleged authorisations of withdrawals surpassing Ksh1 billion a few days before the election.
However, a defensive Yatani played down the allegations that the Controller of Budget was under duress and instead implicated other officials in the controversial transactions.
"This depiction is libelous and defamatory to my character and professional service to the public in many capacities. I have instructed my lawyers to study her utterances and advice on a lawsuit against her person," the former CS noted in the statement.
