Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Nominee Ali Hassan Joho had to defend himself over allegations linking him to drug trafficking.
First to appear before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee chaired by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula yesterday, Joho during vetting, faced the the matter that was tabled before parliament 14 years ago by the late Interior Minister George Saitoti.
Teso South MP Mary Emaase recalled how in 2010, Saitoti had tabled a list in parliament that named Joho among four MPs and a businessman as the high-profile Kenyans allegedly involved in the narcotics trade.
Joho told the vetting committee that Saitoti tabled a report based on a dossier passed to him by the US Embassy and later tabled an investigative report with no iota of evidence against him. He said he is not a fool to engage in such risky business citing his family investments, which he argued allows him deal in legitimate business.
“In my first term as Governor, I was a critic of the Jubilee government and if indeed I was involved in illegal business, I would not have survived under President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime. He’d say he will deal with me, anyone talking of the report tabled should also talk of the report that cleared me of any wrongdoing,” said Joho.
Joho who until recently was ODM Deputy Party Leader before resigning after he was nominated to Cabinet told the vetting committee that his net worth was Sh 2.3 Billion which includes homes in Nairobi, Mombasa and Vipingo. He said he has investments in real estate, logistics and also money in hard cash in various bank accounts.
Suna East MP Junet Mohammed asked Joho to clear the air over his education background since the matter has been coming up during every election cycle. On a lighter note, the legislator said many Kenyans were surprised that Joho can even converse in English.
Joho said he could have been surprised if the question about his academic qualifications did not come up during the exercise and that he was proud that today, he has two university degrees and was pursuing a masters degree despite his D Minus in KCSE.
Joho said there are prejudices in the country against Kenya’s coastal people, that they are not learned, which is not true. Joho said he drew his inspiration from Professor Ali Mazrui who did not succeed at his Cambridge School Certificate but worked his way to studying at British top universities including Oxford becoming a world renown scholar. Joho said for him, historical struggles are real and that he came from a poor background.
“They even said my kindergarten studies could not be verified. When I was vying for gubernatorial position, someone attempted to have me barred on the pretext that they were investigating my degree with some thinking they had finally got an opportunity to end my political career,” said Joho.
The mining CS nominee said there is no investigative agency that has not looked into his academic credentials. He said that is why he looks forward to acquiring a doctorate degree.
Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda sought Joho’s take on his earlier declarations that he cannot work with President William Ruto wondering how he will sit in a cabinet chaired by his political enemy if approved. Vetting panel chair speaker Wetangula appeared to have Joho ignore the question saying only fools do not change their mind.
“I agree with Speaker Wetangula that only fools do not change their minds. I admit that I have been a harsh critic of this administration and now an opportunity has been available for me to serve the country and practice all that I have criticized the government about,” said Joho.
He clarified that his family is not involved in any business with the government and does business in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Dubai among other areas. He said his family’s key businesses are logistics, real estate and general trade.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwah said Joho’s academic journey shows a bottom-up growth asking him what he will do to encourage Kenyans to get trained to work in the Maritime industry.
Joho said the ministry is job creation oriented with 4,000 Kenyans getting into the maritime industry by way of employment and that there was need to redesign our training programmes. He would be engaging MPs on realigning training in the sector, he said.
