Mvurya under fire from MPs for being desk minister
Cabinet Secretary Investment, Trade and Industry nominee Salim Mvurya before the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments.
Trade, Industry and investment Cabinet Secretary nominee Salim Mvurya came under fire during his vetting with the vetting panel accusing him of being a desk minister with no touch on the ground.
Mr Mvurya, who was the Cabinet Secretary for Mining and Blue economy in the previous team before President William Ruto dissolved it, was also accused of poor communication over what he was doing at his previous ministry.
Pokot South MP David Pkosing fired the first accusation to Mr Mvurya accusing of not being vibrant and preferring to work from the office instead of getting hands on.
“Many Kenyans say you are a desk minister, are you still going to run this ministry from a desk in minerals? Posed Mr Pkosing.
“If you ask many Kenyans who Mvurya is, they still think you are the governor of Kwale,” Mr Pkosing added.
Deputy speaker Gladys Shollei also put Mr Mvurya to task over poor communication at his previous ministry saying despite doing many things in her Elgeyo Marakwet backyard, she was not aware of them.
“Hon Mvurya, now it confirms what the President said you had very poor communication because you have done great things but no Kenyans know about it,” Ms Shollei said.
Mr Mvurya however denied being desk minister saying during his tenure as the CS for mining, he has visited various parts of the country including the North Rift region-Tiaty constituency and various parts of Nyanza.
“I am not a desktop minister, I have been to your region, Migori and other regions in this country,” Mr Mvurya said.
The former Kwale governor defended his tenure as the mining CS saying the ministry requires a lot of investment before benefits can be realized.
“I can tell this committee that some of the reforms I put in place will give this country Sh21 billion as benefits. This is an area where you have to invest first in order to reap benefits,” Mr Mvurya said.
Mr Mvurya who is worth 158 million up from the previous Sh120 million when he was last vetted in 2022 said he will create trade funds to assist the young people in creating employment and support their business venture.
Mr Mvurya was also under siege from members of the National Assembly vetting committee as members demanded clear answers on what he will do if approved to win back the heart of most multinational companies that shifted to neighboring countries due to unfavorable economic policies.
Deputy Minority leader Robert Mbui said historically Kenya has been known to be a destination country for most companies which have now shifted due to punitive taxes and poor infrastructure
“What will you do to ensure that these multinationals come back, invest in the country so that they can create employment in our country? Asked Mr Mbui.
Mr Mvurya also faced questions about his decade tenure as the governor for Kwale as there is a memorandum accusing him of financial impropriety. The details of the memorandum was however not shared
On allegations of misappropriation of funds while serving as Kwale governor, he said his integrity is intact as no investigative authority has summoned him to questioning over theft of funds.
“I have not heard from any government institution whether Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) or Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) since I left office of any misappropriation of funds or on my integrity,” Mr Mvurya said.
Mr Mvurya told the vetting panel that if approved, he will work together with parliament to create a favorable environment that can lead to direct foreign investment.
