The Law Society of Kenya has dragged the Minister of Agriculture, Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi to court over the substandard Fertiliser scandal.
The Law Society submits that he has a stake on what transpired and is to blame for the National Fertiliser Subsidy Programme (NFSP) saga.
Linturi was let off the hook by a parliamentary select committee which was formed to hear a motion filed by Bumula MP Jack Wamboka to have him out office but Okoth Ogola,LSK Lawyer says the parliamentary process was a sham as it never got to the bottom of who was to blame for the fake fertiliser scandal.
LSK has sued Linturi, Agriculture Permanent Secretary Paul Rono, the Ministry of Agriculture, National Cereals and Produce Board (NCBP) and Kenya Bureau of Standard (KeBS).
Other parties in the case are Kel Chemicals, Mem Distributors Limited, Director of Public Prosecution and the Director of Criminal Investigations.
The association argues that the Naomi Waqo led committee should have summoned Agriculture Permanent Secretary and Kel Chemicals Chief Executive Officer to shed light on what exactly transpired.
Ogola claimed that Linturi and Dr Rono ran the subsidised fertiliser programme in haste and violated the law.
“The parliamentary proceedings on the proposed impeachment of the first respondent did not in any way alleviate the situation. The nuanced approach taken by the select committee, non-publication of the documents assessed or relied on in making its determination, and the failure to admit key witnesses in the proceedings denied Kenyans the opportunity to understand the full extent of the NFSP scam,” Ogolla argued.
“As it stands, it remains unclear how much fake fertiliser made its way into farms, how much money was lost both by government and by farmers, or who exactly was behind the manifestly fraudulent scheme that the NFSP was reduced to,” he added
LSK wants Linturi and Rono to be held liable for the saga personally.
In a supporting affidavit deposed to by LSK Chief Executive Officer Florence Muturi she stated that the role of implementation of the subsidised fertiliser ought to have been a preserve of Fertiliser and Animal Foodstuffs Board but Linturi has not established or appointed such a board to-date.
”In the haste and chaos of implementing the NFSP prematurely, the first respondent (Linturi) abdicated his duty under Section 2C of the Fertiliser and Animal Foodstuffs Board CAP 345 of the Laws of Kenya by failing and/or neglecting to appoint and/or set up the Fertiliser and Animal Foodstuffs Board established under section 2A of the said Act with the mandate of regulating the fertilisers and animal foodstuffs industry in Kenya, including the production, manufacture, packaging, importation and marketing of fertilisers and animal foodstuffs,” said Muturi.
According to her statement, the ministry had no framework for the implementation of the programme and left NCPB to call the shots.