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| Tomomi Inada (Image: Wiki Commons) |
The latest allegation against Defense Minister Tomomi Inada that she allowed officials to conceal daily activity logs of Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) troops stationed in South Sudan has underscored her inability to govern her own ministry.
Inada has denied authorizing a plan not to disclose the fact that digital data of the GSDF reports were kept during a Feb. 15 emergency meeting with senior Defense Ministry officials. She told reporters on July 19, "It's true that we were having a series of meetings on Feb. 15 to prepare for questions at Diet sessions, but an emergency meeting (to respond to the digital data of the activity logs) never took place."
Inada has denied authorizing a plan not to disclose the fact that digital data of the GSDF reports were kept during a Feb. 15 emergency meeting with senior Defense Ministry officials. She told reporters on July 19, "It's true that we were having a series of meetings on Feb. 15 to prepare for questions at Diet sessions, but an emergency meeting (to respond to the digital data of the activity logs) never took place."
The meeting was reportedly joined by the GSDF Chief of Staff Toshiya Okabe, Defense Ministry Administrative Vice Minister Tetsuo Kuroe and Katashi Toyota, chief of the defense minister's secretariat, among other officials.
Inada has admitted to meeting with Okabe that day, but said she was told by the chief of staff that the activity log data was discarded as it was no longer needed, stressing that her understanding was that the data of the daily logs had been scrapped.
Read the full story at The Mainichi