Former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru, accused of masterminding the NYS heist, has defended herself before Parliament and scolded MPs for what she called bias.
She faced the National Assembly PAC on Thursday over the scandal, initially estimated at Sh791 but raised to Sh1.6 billion by the Auditor General.
In a contentious session, chairman Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda MP) referred twice to "mind-boggling theft of public funds" intended to help the nation's youth.
Waiguru, wearing a black, white and blue patterned dress and gold jewelry, began by requesting assurance the hearing would be fair, implying it was a witch-hunt and the judgement was pre-determined.
She appeared very irritated and said she had been the victim of a smear campaign in the media for a year and a half.
Waiguru resigned at the height of the scandal in November 2015, citing ill health. She is running for Kirinyaga governor.
"I wish to seek your assurance that this committee is guided by nothing other than its mandate to seek the truth," she said.
She accused the committee of unfairly focussing on her, focussing on allegations, not facts and asking improper questions in other sessions.
"It would be unfortunate that the role of this committee to look for evidence and establish a pre-established view of the loss at the NYS is sabotaged," she said.
Gumbo said she was trying to intimate the committee, even before her formal testimony began.
Waiguru attacked Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire, saying he was associated with key NYS suspect Josephine Kabura who said Waiguru helped her do business.
"During Kabura's interview, Bosire insisted if we were business partners. When NYS suspect Ben Gethi was here, they asked questions like tell us about you and Waiguru," she said.
Read:Ben Gethi: Waiguru fixed me over NYS
Also read: Frustrated MPs turn to Bible verses during Josephine Kabura NYS scam grilling
Bosire interjected and told off Waiguru, saying their work at the PAC is to investigate the loss of Sh1.6 billion.
"We are not partial, we are doing correct investigation. Whatever I asked Kabura was derived from the affidavit which she was using as a guide," he said.
Gumbo asked Waiguru to stop limiting the committee and get to the point.
"I see your preliminary presentations as preemptive. No one is here to abuse your rights," Gumbo said.
"You and I who have chosen to be public servants have opened ourselves to public scrutiny.Your rights have been guaranteed by the Constitution and not Nicholas Gumbo."
Noting that Waiguru is knowledgeable, Gumbo said the loss at NYS is something that is of public interest to Kenyans and questions must be asked.
"You are knowledgeable and you have read the constitution. As former CS, you should know that the loss of billions is a concern to Kenyans," he said.
Suba MP John Mbadi who appeared as a friend of the committee, said Waiguru should not make excuses.
"I hope the witness is not doing this out of fear, Mr chairman, and I hope the hearing will be fair," he said.
Another PAC member said "your request for assurance on our impartiality amounts to gagging of this committee before the probe has even begun."
Waiguru was asked to face the MPs after former Devolution PS Peter Mangiti and businesswoman Josephine Kabura blamed her for the scandal.
Waiguru has maintained her innocence, saying she was the whistleblower.
Mangiti told the committee on Wednesday that Waiguru 'illegally' asked for Sh3.5 billion.
Read: 'I stopped Waiguru from taking NYS Sh3.5billion'
Waiguru will be the last witness to appear before the watchdog committee chaired by Gumbo.
The meeting was scheduled to give the ex-CS a fair chance to clear her name on the claims by Mangiti.
Though Kabura admitted to receiving Sh1.6 billion from NYS, she is yet to produce documents to show how she spent the millions.
Read: 10 Kabura revelations that shocked Kenya during NYS scam probe
Waiguru, while appearing before the committee early this year, blamed her woes on cartels in government.
She said the group pushed her out of her job for the sole reason of wanting to benefit from the NYS money.
Waiguru has maintained that her role as a CS does not allow her to approve payments since only the PS has authority to incur expenditure (EIA).
Read: Waiguru links Duale, Farouk, Murkomen to NYS
Expert comment: This was a shameful week for Kenya
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