Nyoro suspended from House over KPC IPO claims

Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has been suspended from the precincts of Parliament for a period of five days for declining to apologise to the House.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula issued the directive yesterday following a heated plenary session where the lawmakers demanded that Nyoro apologise for claims he made on Tuesday, claiming that public offices were forced to invest in the Kenya Pipeline IPO.

During his submissions on Tuesday, Nyoro claimed that phone calls from “the high office” were made to officials at the National Social Security Fund, Public Service Superannuation Fund (PSSF), Kenya Re, among others, to force them to invest in the IPO, which was nearing failure by the close of the investment period.

But confronted with the issue yesterday, Nyoro stood his ground and declined to apologise as directed by the Speaker, at the behest of the leader of the Majority, Kimani Ichung’wah and his minority counterpart, Kimani Ichung’wah.

“There are matters that you can say at funerals and others that you can say on the floor of the House. But if you say something on the floor of the House, you must substantiate...what we are asking is for him to table evidence to show that indeed those phone calls were made. If he has none, he should just apologise because I know he was just speaking to the gallery,” said leader of the minority, Junet Mohammed.

MP Ichung’wah also accused Nyoro of misleading the House.

“Mr Speaker, you know, Ndindi Nyoro is misleading the House further, because even the document, and all he needs to do is to get hold of the document I have tabled, that shows and reports that as of 30th June at the end of the financial year, when PSSF invested in KPC, they had made a 5.1% gain on that share...The apology does not just go to the House but also to professionals who are watching from their offices when we are making all manner of weird allegations. His utterances can injure professionals who are working diligently in public office to the best interest of those they work for...there are no high offices in this country,” stated Ichung’wah.

Their pleas to the Speaker yielded fruit, leading to Speaker Wetangula directing MP Nyoro to issue an apology. The lawmaker, however, declined.

“Honourable Speaker, what I stated is the truth, and the truth rides higher than the rules. And therefore I can't apologise for the obvious," said MP Nyoro.

To which the Speaker responded, “... Honourable Ndindi, you are now guilty of grossly disorderly conduct. And I'll give you the most lenient of the provided punishments and exclude you from the House for five sitting days. You are now a stranger in the House. And I can assure you, Honourable Members, that many of us in my position have seen it all. This kind of conduct is totally unhelpful.”

And while speaking during a press conference thereafter, MP Nyoro termed it unfortunate that he had been suspended for speaking the truth.

“It is unfortunate that I have been banned from attending Parliament for several sessions. I never want to be a rabble-rouser or say things that I cannot substantiate but I was never given time to be able to substantiate my claims in a Parliamentary way. It is wrong for any political office to direct the investments when it comes to pensioners or even independent bodies. They should not be directed politically, as it happened during the investment in the IPO of Kenya Pipeline,” he remarked.

Adding, “As Kenyans know, all these entities, namely Kenya Re, NSSF and PSSF, were forced to invest in Kenya Pipeline after the IPO almost failed at nearing the closure of the investment period. Phone calls were made; public offices invested but unfortunately the investments they made have proven to be suboptimal. The current share price of Kenya Pipeline today is Sh9.02, meaning the growth is 0.2 per cent so far and in a country where inflation is currently at 6 per cent, it means there is a downside on that investment.”

The Kiharu lawmaker also vowed to continue with his duty of scrutinising how public resources were managed in the country.

“William Ruto can buy the entire Parliament but he will never place any value on some of us. Because we will never betray the reason why we are leaders in this country.  I want to tell NSSF, Kenya Re, Public Service Superannuation Fund (PSSF) and the other organisations that work that they have been given guidance by the Constitution and they should follow it. Do the right thing and don’t follow political phone calls,” added Nyoro.