Agriculture CS nominee responds to Linturi links

By Peter Ochieng

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) nominee Dr. Andrew Muhia Karanja has responded to his perceived close ties with former CS Franklin Mithika Linturi.

Unconfirmed reports had indicated that Karanja once served as Linturi’s Personal Assistant (PA).

While being vetted by members of the National Assembly Committee on Appointments on Friday, he denied the allegations, stating that he has never met the former Meru Senator.

“This one caught me by surprise. For the record Mr. Speaker Sir and honourable members, I have never met the former minister for Agriculture and I have never been a PA,” Karanja said. Like those who were vetted on Thursday, he promised to ruthlessly deal with corruption, if approved by the National Assembly.

“Dealing with cartels is a big issue but if approved I have given a notice that they will be out of business. What I hold dear is integrity and also hold dear the farmers' issues. I will do whatever it takes and I have agency to deal with them,” he assured MPs.

During Linturi’s time in office, the fake fertiliser scandal rocked the ministry in what seemingly cooked his goose in the docket.

If approved, Karanja said the subsidised fertiliser program will be one of the areas under his close radar. “This is a critical program and is the centre of food security and we have cartels which led to quality concerns of fertiliser. If approved this is one of the areas, I will work hands on to ensure the quality is okay. Cartels thrive where there is lack of competition and openness.”

“I will remove the focus on central procurement, so we remove the concentration of NCPB and have the farmers be able to procure from other companies,” he added.

“I will have a governance structure on the way fertiliser is procured and distributed. I will have a multi-agency team to ensure the quality of the fertiliser being distributed to farmers.”

The nominee holds a PhD in Development Economics and Policy from Wageningen University, Netherlands, Certificate in Development oriented Research in Agriculture and a Master of Agricultural Economics from the University of Nairobi.