Sports, Culture and Heritage CS Rashid Echesa has denied claims published by the Nation Media Group claiming that he had issued special permits for eight Pakistani Nationals and kept them in a safe house.
He sad that his ministry had no mandate to issue the permits and stated that the Sports Ministry only issued a no objection letter to the director of immigration so that the Pakistani Nationals could get special passes to participate in the Indian Cultural Festival and promote cultural integration.
The Saturday Nation had published that the CS had facilitated the Pakistani Nationals who were exotic dancers to perform and a private club in Westlands Nairobi.
“The only role played by the Ministry of Sports and Heritage was to support the Pakistani nationals’ application for special passes to participate in an Indian cultural festival via issuance of a ‘Letter of no Objection’ to the Director of Immigration Services as part of the ministry’s mandate in promoting cultural integration,” said the ministry in a statement signed by Director of Administration Charles Wambia.
The statement which exonerated CS Rashid Echesa stated that his Ministry did not issue the special permits. The ministry stated that the Nation Media group failed too follow the journalistic code of conduct as they did not contact the Ministry of Sports Culture and Heritage to clarify the information before publishing the story.
The statement read that the article publicly ridicule the CS and subjected him to mob lynching without giving him a right to react , clarify or respond.
Read:Did CS Rashid Echesa Give Special Passes To Pakistani Prostitutes?
CS Echesa has demanded that the Nation Media Group sends an apology and retract the article or face legal action.
“Echesa therefore demands an immediate, unconditional and equally prominent apology from the newspaper and a full retraction of his association with human trafficking or unprocedural issuance of work permits to full effect failure to which he shall seek legal redress and compensation for damages,” the statement read.
Here is the statement:
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