There was uproar in the National Assembly after the committee on Foreign Affairs failed to produce a report on the probe in which an American diplomat fled the country after killing a Kenyan in a road accident. Defence and Foreign Relations Committee chair Ndung’u Githinji had told the House that the report had not been compiled a month after the matter was first raised.
Leader of Majority Aden Duale led the protests, saying it was regrettable that a foreign diplomat could be allowed to leave the country after killing a citizen. “This cannot happen to our diplomats serving in some of these countries. It is unimaginable for a diplomat to be allowed to leave either USA, London, Paris or any other European capital after committing such an act like killing, said Duale.
He accused the committee of sleeping on the job, terming the probe a simple matter which could have called for the committee to summon the Foreign and Interior Cabinet secretaries to explain the matter. Rarienda MP Larry Gumbo who had sought the statement, asked the Speaker to reprimand the committee for failing to take seriously a matter where an innocent Kenyan was killed due to negligence by a foreigner.
Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso ordered that the committee table a report on the matter on Tuesday next week. “This is a serious matter which should be treated so. The committee has no reason to delay it further, you, therefore, have up to Tuesday to table the report,” Laboso ruled. A US diplomat who police say was speeding, crossed his lane and rammed into a mini-bus, killing Haji Lukindo, a father of three whose widow was six months pregnant.
It emerged thereafter that US embassy officials in Nairobi rushed Joshua Walde and his family out of Kenya the next day, leaving the crash victims with no financial assistance to pay for funeral and hospital bills for the eight or so others who were seriously injured. Walde, was an information management officer at the US Nairobi embassy when the accident occurred on the evening of July 11.
He gave a statement to police but because he had diplomatic immunity, he was not detained. His Toyota SUV vehicle allegedly swerved into a lane of oncoming traffic at a four-way intersection, hitting the matatu which the deceased was driving killing him on the spot. The foreign ministry promised to address the matter but to date no response has been forthcoming.-thepeople.co.ke
