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{
    "id": 10881,
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    "content": "Indeed, I issued communication from the Chair confirming that he had received a letter from Mr. Wetangula conveying his decision to step aside from office in order to give way to investigations into allegations of wrong doing by the Ministry. The Report of the Committee did recommend inter alia that:- (i) The Government should take decisive disciplinary action on public officers who may be found to have flouted relevant laws and procedures during the procurement of properties or Kenya missions abroad. (ii) Public offices found culpable in the transactions involving the purchase, construction and/or sale of Government properties are surcharged and made to refund money lost by the Government. (iii) Public officers found culpable in the transactions involving the purchase, construction and/or Government properties be barred from holding public office. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is now a well established constitutional convention that Ministers are responsible, answerable and accountable to Parliament on matters of policy and those of operational nature within their docket. Where this duty is breached, a Minister may face legal sanctions if there are infractions of the law or bear punishment of a political nature. Such punishment should be preceded by establishment of culpability and must meet the test of reasonableness and proportionality. Indeed, the Report of the Committee did acknowledge in its recommendations cited above that culpability is the basis for disciplinary action. Such culpability is to be established through investigations. The defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) commenced investigations on the purchase of the Kenya Embassy property in Tokyo in May 2010. To date, a total of five investigatory teams from different institutions have variously visited Tokyo at the public expense to inquire and/or investigate the matter. These are:- 1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs team. 2. Treasuries external auditors team. 3. The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) team. 4. Parliamentary Committee team. 5. Controller and Auditor-General’s office team. The domestic investigations on this matter have been concluded. However, Mr. Wetangula has neither been recommended for prosecution nor charged with any crime before a court of law. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I repeat that, the domestic investigations of this matter have been concluded. Indeed, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in its interim report to the Attorney-General has observed that:- “The role of the Minister in this transaction is yet to be ascertained. There is no correspondence directed to or emanating from him”. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is now 19 months since the defunct KACC commenced its investigations on this matter. It is ten months since Mr. Wetangula stepped aside to allow investigations. In the meantime, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has applied to the Government of Japan for mutual legal assistance to complete the investigations."
}