Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi now claims that he was not in the country when a consignment of fertiliser, later deemed fake, was procured and allowed into Kenya.
Mithika says he had travelled to the Central African Republic for a state assignment with President William Ruto, and unlike the claims made during his impeachment—that he had overseen the fertiliser’s delivery—he had not been involved in any way.
According to Mithika, he was framed and forced to shoulder the blame, leading to his impeachment, and he says the accusations have damaged his public image, especially since the truth has never come out and he was dismissed after being faulted unfairly.
“When the fertiliser came, I was in the Central African Republic. It was around May 2021, and I was with the president, actually. I was on official duty… When it comes to the fake fertiliser, I am not responsible at all.”
Further, Linturi insisted that even during his impeachment hearing in Parliament, he had defended himself, stating he knew nothing about the fertiliser deal, but despite his defence, the impeachment motion still passed.
On this, he supported former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s earlier claim that he was made to take the fall to protect the President’s image, and he challenged those who believed Gachagua was lying to reassess their opinions.
“And we managed to convince Parliament, and they acquitted me—so on the matter of acquiring the fertiliser, I wasn’t involved. So, like Gachagua said, he was right.”
Linturi then stated that it has now been nine months since his impeachment and insisted that he is no longer afraid to speak out about what happened, as the scandal has continued to stain his image.
He added that even people from his home county of Meru now associate his name with the fertiliser scandal and questioned why he had to pay such a high political price for something he claims he had nothing to do with.
“Now it’s been nine months since I was impeached. I am no longer willing to keep carrying the blame for Kenyans, and I’ve been following up and realised people truly believed I was the one behind the fertiliser. Even here in Meru, people nowadays only associate me with the fertiliser scandal. For how long will I keep receiving criticism for something I wasn’t part of? So, like Gachagua said, there were others who orchestrated the fertiliser deal.”
Fertiliser Components
Linturi added that he wouldn’t quickly dismiss, like many did back then, that the fertiliser was entirely fake, instead suggesting that it only lacked some essential components.
He mentioned phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen as examples, stating that the fertiliser had lower-than-standard quantities of all these elements and that the idea it was mixed with sand had been exaggerated.
“The fertiliser was lacking certain ingredients—not that it was entirely fake. Like, for example, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—the standard levels were lower. It’s true I was the minister, but I had limits.”
To reinforce his defence, Linturi said he was shocked when he saw the news that fake fertiliser had been seized, describing the moment as something that felt like a movie.
He insisted he knew nothing about it and added that his life became extremely difficult afterwards, as he moved from office to office trying to investigate and understand the fertiliser scandal, since he was the Cabinet Secretary and the most senior person in the ministry.
“So when I was informed that such a thing had happened, it felt like a movie to me. I tried hard to understand the matter. Why didn’t I tell people back then? There were so many issues, and I chose to stay quiet, but now it’s become too much because I’ve been holding everything in,, and I’ve nearly exploded.”