Nairobi, Kenya - Kenya's civil society organisations have lauded Parliament's move to annul the unilateral re-appointment of Justice Aaron Ringera as Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) Director.
Executive Director Harun Ndubi of HAKI Focus, a civil society organisation, said Thursday the move signified a new era in Kenyan politics where all leaders were held accountable for their actions.
Ndubi, commenting on Wednesday's historic move that saw Parliament, out to flex its muscle and assert its authority, nullified Ringera's appointment by President Mwai Kibaki, saying the move was illegal and noted 'I am sure that most Kenyans especially those in Parliament are very disappointed.'
The legislature, angered by Kibaki's failure to consult the KACC advisory board and parliament's approval as stipulated by the law, revoked the appointment Wednesday, saying it was an illegality.
It is the KACC advisory board that vets the law, interviews and forwards the names of successful applicants to the President, who in turn picks two or three most suitable candidates and forwards their names to Parliament for vetting.
Parliament would in turn pick the best and forward the same to the President for the appointment.
However, in Ringera's case, it appears Kibaki overlooked the advisory board and the Parliament and unilateraly re-appointed him as the anti-corruption body director, to the chagrin of the MPs, the civil society and event a section of the cabinet.
Ndub's sentiments were echoed by the Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers chair person, Patricia Nyaundi, who said the vote restored the confidence of Kenyans in the legislature.
'That is a statement that needed to be made, especially when we saw what had happened the previous day (Tuesday) that there had been horse-trading and there was the fear in the air that this one would be compromised and we would vote along ethnic lines,' Mrs Nyaundi stated.
'Those ones who stood to their positions must be commended,' she said.
MPs agreed with a joint parliamentary committee report, saying the President acted unprocedurally by overstepping the KACC Advisory Board and Parliament in the reappointment of Ringera and two of his assistants.
According to legal experts, Parliament cannot force the President to rescind his decision and the move only sends a strong signal of displeasure by MPs in the way the executive acted.
The only way MPs could have forced Justice Ringera out would have been to cut off funding to a KACC under him.
However, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta forestalled such a move when he withdrew the Appropriations Bill which was slated for debate before the motion of adjournment was moved.
Earlier attempts by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni and Assistant Ministe Peter Munya to bring an amendment to the report by deleting a section that called for annulment of the gazette notice that contained the reappointment were defeated by 86 votes to 45.
Pitching for the adoption of their report, chairpersons of the joint house committees on justice and legal affairs and delegated legislation, Amina Abdallah and Abdikadir Mohammed, said their recommendations should not be used as a supremacy fight between the two coalition partners.
In supporting the report, Defence Assistant Minister and Mwingi South MP David Musila said Ringera had failed in his work and as such his reappointment should be revoked.
Former Justice Minister Martha Karua also said the President failed to act procedurally in renewing Ringera's contract.
Karua blamed the Presidentâ?s advisors for misleading him.
Parliament is now on recess until 10 November.
Justice Ringera, a former High Court judge, has been judged by Kenyans not to be equal to the task.
During his five-year tenure, no top politician or tycoons fingered in mega scandals was hauled to court.
Instead, Ringera has been blaming the Attorney General, Amos Wako, accusing him of failing to prosecute the big fish.
The KACC can only arrest, investigate and recommend the charging of the graft suspects, it cannot prosecute as that is the responsibility of the attorney general.
Ringera insisted the anti-corruption agency under him did a good job, arresting and investigating the suspects before forwarding the cases to the AG.
Wako, however, argued that he could not prosecute due to lack of adequate evidence.
Kenyans argued that Ringera, who earns Kenya Shillings 2.5 million a month, higher than the President's monthly pay, is a liability to the country and cannot justify his fat pay.
Kenyans accused the President of impunity, wondering why he unilateraly re-appointed Ringera.
Nairobi - Pana
1 comment:
Its true what you are saying. We had a situation in Baringo where Pastor Meshack Gachago and Festus Koech came to a church in Baringo. email them at feskiko2004@yahoo.com and meshacksg@yahoo.com. They actually are the ones who brough CLIP and DECI investments schemes to Kabarnet (they took more than 40 million Kenya shillings). Google "Meshack Gachago" and you will see he is the director of CLIP.He has a blog www.frontlineapmission.wordpress.com =this is how they cover their evil deeds. They are masters at dividing and conqueroring. They came to a church in Kabarnet ,essentially driving out a pastor. They did coup on the pastor and humiliated him before his church. At the end of the meeting they stood up and said "We don't care if ICC gets involved or the Hague- we are doing this and we don't care". They supported some leaders who are openly corrupt and landgrabbers. We are telling you what we have seen and heard, there is even a video documentation. We don't blame the politicians anymore, we blame corrupt and false leaders like Gachago and Koech. Thanks for exposing these wolves, great post!
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