Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter has been fined Sh500,000 by the Senate Energy Committee after he snubbed summons.
Keter, who was censured yesterday with his Petroleum counterpart John Munyes for for snubbing summons over high fuel prices, was summoned by the Energy Committee chaired by Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina to to give a status update on the costs of electricity in the country.
Keter, who is said to be out of the country attending an ongoing International Atomic Agency Summit in Austria, sent his Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge.
“We would have no intention at all to snub an invitation by the National Assembly and the Senate and we have never done so. In this case, I want to categorically confirm that we were coming with the CS, but a representative of the Kenyan government in international atomic energy made an appeal to the government and requested that the CS attends because some issues were weighty and called for the attendance of the CS,” Njoroge said.
However, senators rejected the explanations accusing the CS of treating the Senate with contempt.
“This committee has unanimously approved the resolution or judgment that a fine be imposed on the CS of Sh500,000,” chairman Maina said.
Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina said that Keter is a fugitive of accountability who ought to be fined and pay in person.
“This is not money that should come out of the Ministry. Having been a Senator he knows the rule of law and yet he keeps on violating it. The only way that we can only be able to come to the bottom of this matter is if and only we become more punitive,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader James Orengo tabled a censure motion against Keter and Munyes.
Orengo said that Keter and Munyes had not formally explained why they skipped the sitting.
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula said this country must be run by responsive people, men and women who will deny themselves for the greater good of society.
“The chair should be obligated to deliver the proceedings of this Motion to the Executive today, so that they can see the outrage of the representatives of the people of Kenya in the conduct of the two ministers,” he said.
The Senators challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to act and dismiss the two CSs noting that Kenyans’ plight had been disregarded.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka had last week invited the CSs to appear before the committee to explain the hike in fuel prices.