NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 14 — A parliamentary committee session on health descended into a shouting match on Tuesday following a heated exchange between Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi.
The confrontation, captured on video and widely shared online, showed the two leaders trading accusations, with Duale repeatedly calling the lawmaker an “extortionist” and “a thief,” while Kibagendi accused the minister of evading accountability.
“You are the cause of it. You are an extortionist,” Duale shouted, visibly agitated, as he vowed to have the MP charged in court.
Kibagendi, equally defiant, fired back.
“Duale, you cannot intimidate me. I fear no one. We are not your children,” he charged.
The confrontation erupted as the National Assembly Health Committee questioned Duale over alleged corruption in the Health Ministry and possible conflicts of interest involving the registration of private hospitals.
Duale dismissed the claims, maintaining that he did not own any hospital and accusing unnamed committee members of using parliamentary oversight as a tool for “extortion.”
“This nonsense you are bringing to this country must stop,” he said. “You can charge me if you wish — I have nothing to hide.”
As tempers flared, other committee members moved to restore calm, prompting intervention from Committee Chairperson James Nyikal (Seme MP), who urged both sides to maintain decorum and focus on the agenda.
“Let us maintain order,” Nyikal said, directing that the proceedings continue “without personal remarks.”
The session later resumed, with Duale vowing to petition the Speaker of the National Assembly for Kibagendi’s removal from the committee.
“We will write to the Speaker — this gentleman should not be in this committee,” Duale declared.
