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"The Ministry is not me, there are many people in the Ministry. He should be saying he sent to my email," Linturi hit back at Namu in a quick rejoinder.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi clashed with veteran journalist John Allan Namu over his investigative piece on the fake fertiliser scandal.

The two engaged in a heated exchange on the Citizen TV show hosted by Sam Gituku after CS Linturi called out Namu accusing him of failing to give the Ministry a right to reply before releasing his investigative piece.

"What was run on Africa Uncensored is not anything that I would take seriously. Irresponsible journalism would require that before you do it, get a clarification from the Ministry to understand what is happening. There is every reason for one also to say no, this is not fair," Linturi stated.

Allan Namu, who joined the show on phone, dismissed Linturi's claims that they reached out to the Ministry and he did not respond.

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File image of journalist John Allan Namu. PHOTO | COURTESY

"The CS claims we never reached out to the Ministry, that’s a lie. On 15th Feb this year, we reached out via email, his Ministry is the only government department that did not respond to our claims. When he says that I am a crook and a liar, perhaps he should take a hard look in the mirror," Namu responded.

"The Ministry is not me, there are many people in the Ministry. He should be saying he sent to my email, the office of the CS or my PA, that is how it would have gotten to me," Linturi hit back at Namu in a quick rejoinder.

However, Namu castigated the CS asking him to sort out the issue regarding fake fertiliser instead of running a smear campaign against him.

"It is in the public interest that we are doing this work. I do not know Mithika Linturi. If he has a personal grudge against me, he should take it up with me personally, not to try and mislead the nation in such a serious time," Namu remarked.

Earlier, Gituku had asked Linturi “What is the opposite of fake?” After which Linturi responded: “Genuine.”

Gituku proceeded to wonder if the substandard fertilizer was not fake, then would it be referred to as genuine, a question which the CS in a rejoinder said could only be answered by experts and scientists, adding that the issue has already been politicized and it is hard to understand it.