Kibaki, Raila pick Matemu new graft boss

Mr Mumo Matemu has been nominated to head the agency that will lead the war against corruption.

His deputies at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) will be Prof Jane Onsongo and Ms Irene Keino, according to the list that President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga submitted to Parliament for vetting on Thursday.

Mr Matemu is a former Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner in charge of support services, while Prof Onsongo held the same position at the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC). Ms Keino was deputy chairperson of KACC’s advisory board.

Selection panel

The selection panel had shortlisted Mr Matemu, Mr Okong’o O’Mogeni and Ms Sarah Kilemi for appointment as chairperson of the commission.

Prof Onsongo, Ms Keino, Mr Polycarp Omolo Ochilo and Mr Robert Francis Shaw were picked for the two slots of EACC members.

Temporary Speaker Gitobu Imanyara on Thursday forwarded the names to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and directed it to report back to the House by Monday so that the list is discussed before the end of the session next week.

If cleared by Parliament, Mr Matemu will be the third head of the agency in two years after two former directors, Mr Aaron Ringera and Prof Patrick Lumumba were kicked out by Parliament.

Mr Ringera was rejected in 2009 after President Kibaki unilaterally reappointed him for the second term. His two deputies, Dr Smokin Wanjala (now a judge in the Supreme Court) and Ms Fatuma Sichale, also left office.

Prof Lumumba was appointed competitively and assumed office with a pledge to “slay the dragon of corruption”.

Days into office, he declared that he was in the process of completing investigations into dozens of “high voltage files” and that it was only a matter of time before he hauled Cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and up to 45 parastatal chiefs to courts to face corruption charges.

But after a year, the agency claimed only one scalp — suspended Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey.

Prosecutorial powers

Like his predecessor, Prof Lumumba repeatedly blamed the commission’s lack of prosecutorial powers for failure to stop grand corruption that has cost the taxpayer billions of shillings. Then as now, the powers to prosecute lie with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Prof Lumumba’s tenure was cut short by Parliament after he engaged in a war of words with Tourism assistant minister Cecily Mbarire and her husband over an alleged bribery attempt.

Parliament was discussing the EACC Bill and passed two amendments; one deleting the clause that gave the new agency powers to prosecute and the second a clause that had secured the jobs of Prof Lumumba and his four deputies.