Kenya lawyers question Jaoko's ouster

Kenyan lawyers have questioned the alleged removal of Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission chair Florence Jaoko from office.

The International Commission of Jurists-Kenya, Federation of Women Lawyers and Law Society of Kenya said they were not aware of any legal provisions that mandates the commissioners to remove the chair.

“We are concerned that the National Commission has purported to remove from office its own chairperson. The reasons for purported removal remain unclear to us,” the Fida executive director Grace Maingi Kimani said.

Ms Kimani, her ICJ counterpart George Kegoro, Njonjo Mue (ICJ council member) and Felistas Njoroge (ICJ vice-chairperson) said if the commission is to remain accountable “this major development must be backed by solid reasons".

The reasons must not only be agreed on internally among the commissioners but must also be explained to the public which has expectations on the Commission, the lawyers said.

They said since the new Constitution merged the Gender Commission and the National Commission any decision on the chair must involve both units.

Seven out of the eight commissioners of the human rights body have passed a vote of no confidence on Ms Jaoko, stripped her off all her powers and appointed a committee of three to run it.

Ms Jaoko, has, however scoffed at her ouster saying the commissioners have no mandate to do so and insisted that she is still the head of the organisation.

The new Constitution vests the expanded Commission with tremendous responsibility in the governance of the country and LSK, Fida and ICJ said it will need the goodwill of stakeholders if it is to discharge its responsibilities.

“We hope that the Commission recognises this fact and will therefore see the need to be accountable to us,” Ms Kimani said.

The lawyers also offered to mediate the internal problems in the Commission to overcome the challenges facing it.

They said the differences were not good at a time when the country is implementing the new Constitution.

The lawyers said it is important that the country remains focussed in implementation of the new constitution “and is not distracted by avoidable institutional problems in the governance institutions.”

The merging of the National Commission and that of Gender, they said enhances its responsibility and that it would now be required to “stand up in the gap between the government and the public and ensuring that the rights of the public are protected".

The Commission, an independent national human rights institution, core mandate is to further the protection and promotion of human rights in Kenya.