Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has been a man under siege for the last coiple of weeks after his docket came under close scrutiny by the Kenyans and eventually Head of State President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Pressure has heightened on the Cabinet Secretary to ensure that farmers are paid all their dues soonest possible with the President warning the CS thrice in public that he would not hesitate to send him packing and to jail should there be any looting of public funds in the ministry.
Kiunjuri however on Tuesday blamed his haters for spreading false information that his job was on the line and that he was accused of any wrong doing and assured that he would deal with his detractors at ‘the right time’. Kiunjuri pushed the blame squarely on the EACC claiming that the body should investigate and bring to book those who wrongly allocated funds meant for farmers.
"I assure you that when the right time and right moment comes, I will deal with you," CS Kiunjuri tells his 'haters' pic.twitter.com/6APTYICeAr
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 23, 2018
Kenyans would however not hear or swallow his word as they came out guns blazing to silence him, some even accusing him of talking back at his boss rather than take necessary action to ensure that cartels within the ministry are deal with.
A good number even mocked him and bordered on calling the former Member of Parliament a non-performer for overseeing a ministry that has failed to pay farmers on time and had some funds allocated to greedy cartels that feed on the farmers’ sweat.
CS kiunjuri has answered Uhuru Kenyatta. as usual he spoke through parables as he normally does.
— james kamau muya (@james_muya) October 23, 2018
This could be me right now if CS Kiunjuri would be Cabinet Secretary for Energy#KOTLoyalsAgainstDepression pic.twitter.com/Mhw0grlODF
— MR. BLAK® (The Brand Doctor) (@blakaende2) October 23, 2018
Cs Kiunjuri come let's talk….! Threats and Intimidatory statements will not excuse your incompetence. Just so you know. pic.twitter.com/1ZcxYuVbxE
— S.N. Nyamao 🇰🇪 (@snnyamao) October 23, 2018
So Cs kiunjuri has resorted to cheap n empty threats in an attempt to fight for his job?instead of paying farmers ur busy addressing ur haters? pic.twitter.com/kvZ6hVrLlq
— ping pong official 🇰🇪 (@pauliddiali) October 23, 2018
“These leaders who think they can threaten and intimidate the ministers should be told they have targeted the wrong person. We know they are defending the cartels in the Ministry and are against my efforts to clean the NCPB,” Mwangi was quoted as saying in August when the Maize scandal debate was at its pick.
Uhur Kenyatta has however made it public on three occasions that the responsibility lies with the Cabinet Secretary first during the Nairobi Show and most recently during his Mashujaa Day speech and Rift Valley tours respectively.
Show Ground….
https://youtu.be/K-MC5w2o7w8
Mashujaa Day……
The scandal is believes to have led to the disappearance of Kshs 1.9 Billion meant for farmers across the country with the cartels linked to top government officials who engaged in dubious tendering processes to benefit themselves.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe, who has since been charged, however dismissed the details of the report which further stated that only 18 traders are solely to blame for the woes of the farmers.
Cartels said to have supplied maize in Eldoret, Moi’s Bridge, Kitale, Kisumu, Bungoma and Nakuru depots consequently were paid huge amounts of money at the expense of genuine farmers whose payments were delayed.