By Adongo Ogony April 28, 2024
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‘Mimi Sio Mtu Wa Kutishwa…’ CS Linturi Says Unfazed By Impeachment Bid
By Citizen Reporter Published on: April 28, 2024
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has said he is unconcerned about efforts by a faction of Kenyan legislators to impeach him in connection with the fertiliser scandal.
Speaking at a fundraiser in Central Imenti, Meru on Sunday, he urged attendees to pray for him, saying, “I humbly request your prayers.” I am not one to be troubled or intimidated…”
Linturi emphasised his sole responsibility to his superior and stated that clarity on the matter would be achieved by the end of the week, citing the biblical reference Jeremiah 2:18-19.
He reiterated his commitment to carrying out the President’s mandate, saying he was going to avoid minor distractions.
Central Imenti MP Kirima Nguchine echoed Linturi’s sentiments, blaming the attacks on Linturi on members of the opposition seeking to destabilise the government.
The MP warned that once Linturi is dealt with, the opposition will target another Cabinet Secretary.
Meanwhile, the noose around Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi continued to tighten as Bumula Member of Parliament Jack Wamboka filed a notice of motion to impeach him.
MP Wamboka, who is backed by the signatures of 110 legislators, said he expects National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula to approve his motion soonest so that it is brought to the House for debate.
He said the fertiliser scandal is not the first in the Ministry of Agriculture, noting that it has eroded the confidence of farmers and thereby negatively affecting efforts by the government to achieve food security.
“The motion is rooted in grave allegations of gross misconduct, violation of constitutional provisions and serious breach of public trust. The evidence presented before the assembly paints a distressing picture of negligence, mismanagement and potential of criminal activities within the ministry,” Wamboka said in a Thursday press address.
While urging fellow lawmakers to support the motion, Wamboka said it is not politically motivated neither is it grounded on witch-hunt.
He said members of from across the political divide have signed his motion, insisting that the impeachment is meant to help the President achieve his dream of food security in the country.
“I firmly believe that the gravity of this allegations demand swift and decisive action. As elected representatives it’s our duty to hold public officers accountable and to safeguard the interests of the people that we serve,” he said.
“Agriculture is such a key sector, we want to tell the President, please don’t allow one rogue minister to derail your agenda of attaining food security in the country.”
Laikipia North MP Sarah Korere urged CS Linturi to resign and allow for investigations to be conducted before he is impeached by the House.
Korere, who will be seconding the motion if it makes it to the floor of the National Assembly, said Agriculture is such a key sector to allow for mismanagement.
115 MPs Files Motion To Impeach Agriculture CS Linturi
In the petition for the removal, Linturi is accused of exposing farmers to fraudsters who have hoodwinked them saying the quest for the removal of the Cabinet Secretary is not political or a witch-hunt.
Bumula Member of Parliament Jack Wamboka has filed a notice of motion to impeach Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi.
The motion which is supported by 110 legislators cites that the CS should be removed from office due to gross violation of the constitution and criminal negligence under the Penal Code.
Linturi becomes the second member of President William Ruto’s cabinet to face such a motion, this is after Embakasi East MP Babu Owino presented a motion seeking the removal of Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha.
Nakhumicha has been faulted over her handling of the prolonged doctors’ strike that have paralyzed services in public hospitals, respectively.
Wamboka seeks to edge out the embattled CS over his role in approving the procurement and distribution of fake fertilizer under the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) channels.
In the petition for the removal, Linturi is accused of exposing farmers to fraudsters who have hoodwinked them saying the quest for the removal of the Cabinet Secretary is not political or a witch-hunt.
“I firmly believe that the gravity of this allegations demand swift and decisive action as elected representatives it’s our duty to hold public officers accountable and to safeguard the interests of the people that we serve,” Wamboka noted.
The Bumula legislator insisted that the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary has treated farmers to a circus which will evidently affect food security in the country.
“Agriculture is such a key sector, we want to tell the president, please don’t allow one rogue minister to derail your agenda of attaining food security in the country,” the Bumula MP stated.
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Wamboka confidently stated that his petition holds serious ground for the removal of the Cabinet Secretary urging Speaker Wetangula to pave way for MPs to send Linturi home.
“The evidence presented before the assembly paints a distressing picture of negligence, mismanagement and potential of criminal activities within the ministry,” he said.
Laikipia North MP Sarah Korere who promised to second the motion on the floor of the house called upon CS Linturi to resign before the wrath of lawmakers is waged on him during the consideration of the impeachment motion.
Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Susan Nakhumicha.
There is no public healthcare in Kenya anymore and Ruto and his groupies don’t care. The citizens know that.
Murkomen, do things differently to tame accidents
Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen.
Greetings Onesimus Kipchumba, son of Johana Murkomen. I hope you are well and keeping tabs kwa ground.
Minister, I bring to your attention, in this epistle today, the concerns of Kenyans about the alarming rate of accidents, and which they feel you are snubbing.
And of course we have Moses Kuria who wants to be the President of Kenya working under William Ruto.
I am extremely delighted to take over the Ministry of Public Service Performance and Delivery Management from my Sister.
. It’s my vision that I’ll be able to transit public servants from public employment,where most of them believe they are in, to public service where the 900,000 of us should be ,to serve the 54 million Kenyans as they deserve.
It is all make up and show boat. A complete failure to the country. The nation will deal with it in due time. We have always done that from Jomo to Moi. Ruto will be no different. We are coming. No doubt about that.
A man swims from a submerged church compound, after the River Tana broke its banks following heavy rains at Mororo, border of Tana River and Garissa counties, North Eastern …Read More
Kenya postpones reopening of schools as flood-related deaths near 100
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya has postponed the reopening of its schools by one week due to ongoing flooding caused by heavy rains, as flood-related deaths since mid-March in the East African country neared 100.
Some schools remained “adversely affected” by the flooding, the Education Ministry said Sunday night. Local media reported that more than 100 schools were flooded, some with collapsed walls and roofs blown away.
All schools were set to reopen on Monday but will now open on May 6.
Ninety-three people have died in the flooding in Kenya and that number is expected to rise after a boat capsized in the northern Garissa county on Sunday night. The Kenyan Red Cross said it had rescued 23 people from the boat, but more than a dozen people were still missing.
Heavy rains have been pounding the country since mid-March and the Meteorology Department has warned of more rainfall.
The East African region is experiencing flooding due to the heavy rains, and 155 people have reportedly died in Tanzania while more than 200,000 people are affected in neighboring Burundi.
The highest number of deaths in Kenya have been reported in the capital, Nairobi, according to police records.
Kenya’s main airport was flooded on Saturday, forcing some flights to be diverted, as videos of a flooded runway, terminals and cargo section were shared online.
The airport’s manager, Henry Kegoye, said the flooding was from ongoing refurbishment work that was due to be completed in June. Heavy rains had overwhelmed a temporary drainage system set up by the contractor.
More than 200,000 people across the country have been affected by the floods, with houses in flood-prone areas submerged and people seeking refuge in schools.
President William Ruto had instructed the National Youth Service to provide land for use as a temporary camp for those affected.
The school reopening day was a big problem for me. My niece just went back to college in Thika, rented her apartment and is in school after doing a field job for the college where she excelled. You throw her out of school she has to buy a ticket to travel back home and she still has to pay rent in her place in Thika. This doesn’t make sense. Does it? If you are Ruto the president of Kenya it makes a lot of sense because you don’t care about the country and the citizens. Kenyans get that now.
I was talking to her mom about how she made it to Thika with all this rain and stuff and the mom said she is tough. She is there now and she told me she is not coming back now because everything in college is open.
Now this is getting completely out of control.
Dozens killed in Kenya as weeks of heavy rain devastate region
By Larry Madowo, Irene Nasser and Helen Regan, CNN
Updated 12:49 PM EDT, Mon April 29, 2024
A CNN team on the ground in Kenya’s Rift Valley town Mai Mahiu has seen overturned vehicles, uprooted trees and homes which had been swept away in mass flooding. Larry Madowo/CNNNairobi, KenyaCNN —
At least 71 people have been confirmed dead and 110 people are in hospital following floods near the town of Mai Mahiu in Kenya’s north-western Nakuru county, Nakuru governor Susan Kihika confirmed to CNN on Monday.
According to Kihika, flooding in the region was exacerbated by the bursting of a dam, though locals and first responders have told CNN that the disaster was caused by water blowing through a tunnel under a railway bridge with a clogged culvert.
Kenya has grappled with weeks of heavy rains and devastating flash floods.
A CNN team on the ground in Mai Mahiu has seen overturned vehicles, uprooted trees and homes which had been swept away in mass flooding.
CNN witnessed damage to one of the most affected areas from flooding in Nakuru county, which spanned several kilometers in every direction. A distraught man told CNN that he feared several of his family members were still buried under the mud and debris.
Rescue teams are digging through the mud and debris trying to find survivors, Kihika told CNN, warning that the death toll could rise significantly.
The incident comes as flooding has inundated large swathes of Kenya, killing at least 103 people and forcing thousands of residents from their homes since March, government spokesperson Isaac Maigua Mwaura said Monday.
A man uses a stick to cross a river after heavy flash floods wiped out several homes when a dam burst, following heavy rains in Kamuchiri village of Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya on April 29, 2024. Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
In Mai Mahiu, Kihika said a serious situation was unfolding as floodwaters swept away people and homes.
“We are trying to get a handle on the situation but it’s a bit overwhelming but we’re doing the best we can especially to reach those who have been carried away because we hope that some are still alive,” Kihika said.
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Mai Mahiu
Access to Mai Mahiu, 20 miles north of the capital Nairobi, had been difficult as part of the road had been cut off from recent heavy rains, Kihika said. Teams are clearing debris as they try to reach survivors and pull out bodies, she added.
On Monday, the Kenya Red Cross Society said several people were taken to a health facility in Mai Mahiu due to the flash floods affecting Kamuchiri village.
“The floodwaters are reported to have originated from a nearby river that broke its banks,” the group said.
Kenya has registered heavy rain since mid-March but downpours have intensified over the past week, leading to mass flooding.
“Kenya is facing a worsening flood crisis due to the combined effects of El Niño and the ongoing March-May 2024 long rains,” IFRC Secretary General and CEO Jagan Chapagain said in a post on X, referring to the climate pattern that originates in the Pacific Ocean along the equator and impacts weather all over the world.
“Since November 2023, El Niño triggered devastating floods and river overflows, causing more than a hundred deaths and widespread damage.”
A man is seen in flood waters near a submerged church compound, after the River Tana broke its banks following heavy rains at Mororo, Kenya, on Sunday, April 28. Andre Kasuku/AP
A another climate fluctuation called a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, similar to El Niño but which originates in the Indian Ocean along the East Africa coast, is also intensifying the rains, said Joyce Kimutai, a researcher at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute the former principal meteorologist at the Kenya Meteorological Department.
And behind these natural climate patterns, the long term-trend of human-caused global warming is “highly likely” to be influencing the heavy rainfall, as warm air tends to hold more moisture, Kimutai told CNN.
The Horn of Africa, a region of East Africa that includes Kenya, is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world.
A drone view shows damaged houses after heavy flash floods wiped out several homes when a dam burst, following heavy rains in Kamuchiri village of Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya on April 29, 2024. Edwin Waita/Reuters
The deadly rains across the Horn of Africa at the end of last year, which killed at least 300 people, were about twice as intense as they would have been without climate change, according to a December analysis from scientists at the World Weather Attribution (WWA) initiative.
The impact of Kenya’s most recent rains also may have been worsened by falling on very hard, dry soils after years of catastrophic drought, which affected many parts of Kenya, killing livestock and crops and causing widespread hunger and water insecurity. This drought was made 100 times more likely by planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels, an April WWA analysis found.
“When people are still reeling from one extreme weather event, it makes them highly vulnerable to another,” Kimutai said.
A damaged passenger bus stuck on a fallen tree after heavy flash floods wiped out several homes when a dam burst, following heavy rains in Kamuchiri village of Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya, on April 29. Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
Some 131,450 people have been affected as floods swept through almost half of Kenya.
Images and video from Nairobi, which has been badly impacted, show people stranded on rooftops or salvaging what they can from homes destroyed by the flash floods.
RELATED ARTICLEKenya floods leave 76 dead as truck is swept away in deluge
Other video shows vast flooding around the Tana River, with large parts of the surrounding area underwater. Roads, buildings and vehicles are submerged.
The Ministry of Education announced Monday that all primary and secondary schools would postpone the start of the new school term for one week until May 6.
On Sunday, the Kenya Red Cross Society said 23 people had been rescued and others were missing after a boat capsized at Kona Punda while heading to Mororo, Tana River County, on Sunday.
As of Friday, the group said it has rescued more than 300 people since the onset of the rain in March.
Heavy rains in East Africa have also affected Tanzania and Burundi. Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Thursday that at least 155 people have been killed by flooding in the country.
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