Why Kibaki rushed to appoint Ringera

Details have emerged of the frantic final hours before President Kibaki controversially reappointed anti-graft boss Aaron Ringera.

Impeccable sources at both State House and Integrity Centre, where retired Justice Ringera sits as the head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), revealed that the Head of State moved with haste after it became evident that the advisory board was bent on having a fresh face at the helm of the war against corruption.

Advisory board

The gazette notice announcing the appointment was published on Monday, just two days before a planned advisory board meeting to chart the way forward after the expiry of Mr Ringera’s term.

Curiously, the notice was only made public on Friday (see related story).

It has since emerged that last month there was a strong plea to the board to forward Justice Ringera’s name and those of his two assistants to Parliament for approval instead of being subjected to a fresh interview.

The advisory board was determined to advertise the job and have Ringera and his two deputies apply afresh, one authoritative source added.

Indeed, one board member was of the view that the re-appointment of Ringera and his two assistants ought to have them going through the whole process of applying, being interviewed and getting parliamentary approval.

And the first chairman of KACC, Mr Abdullahi Ahmednassir, said that the contract awarded to Justice Ringera was explicit that he was to apply afresh on the conclusion of his first term.

“The first draft brought by government to the board wanted Ringera to get an automatic second term, but we shot it down,” Mr Ahmednassir said.

Pending development

After State House was informed of the pending development at Integrity Centre, it moved to issue the gazzette notice last Monday, a well-informed source who cannot be named told the Saturday Nation on Friday.

Significantly, the notice was published on the same day the head of civil service, Mr Francis Muthaura, resumed his official duties after a heart operation in South Africa.

The 12-member advisory board, reconstituted in June this year, has nine new members and has only held one formal meeting since it was constituted.

The second meeting was scheduled for last Wednesday, during which Ringera’s re-appointment, or the advertising of his position, would have been discussed.

However, the meeting was scuttled after President Kibaki gave Ringera and his two deputies, Mr Smokin Wanjala and Ms Fatuma Sichale, another tenure at Integrity Centre.

The board member the Saturday Nation spoke to, and who cannot be quoted as he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the plot to give Ringera another term stretches back to August last year, when the term of the first advisory board expired.

“It took President Kibaki and the then minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Martha Karua 10 months to have the new board reconstituted,” the board member said.

Even then, our source added, State House ordered the deletion of the name of former Mandera Central MP Billow Kerrow from the new list.

The loud silence of key people President Kibaki should have consulted before reappointing Ringera is a pointer to the interests responsible for his second term at KACC.

Proponents of this argument say the current debate only serves to show that Ringera represents a clique of economically oriented personalities surrounding the President who are keen to protect their interests.

Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba argues that the silence of the government’s legal adviser, Attorney General Amos Wako, “is evidence that he was not involved in the appointment of the director”.

He further says the vehemence with which ministers Mutula Kilonzo (Justice), George Saitoti (Internal Security) and Kiraitu Murungi (Energy) are defending the President’s decision, despite it being widely termed illegal, can be interpreted to mean they were aware of the goings on prior to the appointment.

But what raises even more questions is why the President ignored a precedent he and Parliament set during the recent appointment of directors at the anti-graft body.

In a report dated May this year, Parliament’s Departmental Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs says the KACC Advisory Board had, in May 2008, advertised and held interviews in July the same year to replace the Assistant Director (Finance & Administration).

Scrutinised qualifications

“In accordance with the provisions of Section 8 (3) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, the Committee scrutinised the qualifications and credentials of the nominees and confirmed that they were qualified for the positions,” indicates the report, presented to the Speaker of the House on May 28 this year.

The board’s key mandate is to recommend to Parliament persons to be appointed as directors or assistant directors of the Commission, and to initiate the process of removal from the office of director or assistant director for specified reasons. It can also advise the Commission generally on the exercise of its powers and the performance of its functions.

The members feel that the delay in their appointment was strategic.

On why they did not start the search for Mr Ringera’s successor way back in June after being sworn in, chairman Okong’o O’Mogeni said the law allows the board to initiate the process only after the office falls vacant.

He said the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003 is very clear and the board cannot advertise while an officer’s term has not ended.

Indeed, in the First Schedule containing the provisions relating to the staff of the Commission, section 2 (I) states: “If the office of the director or an assistant director becomes vacant, the Advisory Board shall, within three months, recommend a person to be appointed to fill the vacancy”.

As for the deputies, Mr O’Mogeni said, the law provides that senior officers could be appointed in an acting capacity, pending replacement.