House team clears Amolo for CAJ job

A former member of the team that drafted Kenya’s Constitution on Tuesday got the nod from Parliament to chair one of the constitutional commissions.

Mr Otiende Amolo, who sat in the Committee of Experts, is slated to chair the Commission on Administrative Justice –the body that will keep the government in check when it comes to service delivery and compliance to Chapter Six of the Constitution.

The renowned lawyer becomes the third individual of the defunct CoE to get an assignment in the new governance regime.

The others are Supreme Court Judge Njoki Ndung’u and Dr Ekuru Aukot, who chaired the panel that picked commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

At a meeting with Parliament’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC), MPs congratulated Mr Amolo on his nomination saying he had a ‘strong résumé’.

“We have a letter here that says Mr Amolo scored the highest marks of all the candidates interviewed for the position of chairman. Very good…” said Mr Philip Kaloki (Kibwezi MP) as he asked Mr Amolo his view about regional balance vis-à-vis competence and merit when it comes to appointments.

The proposed chair said a balance of all qualifications was required in government recruitment.

“For this commission to be effective, it will have to get a minimum of 47 branches in all the 47 counties. It is my contemplation that we’ll have to have very effective branches at county level and even below that level,” said Mr Amolo.

He noted that many of the injustices happened in the grassroots and that was why the commission had to “unpack itself” and have presence close to the people. The Constitution, he said, shields the commission from the problems that crippled the Office of the Ombudsman.

Mr Amolo promised to quit all his other jobs as soon as he was appointed for the job. He is managing partner at Rachier and Amolo Advocates and also the chair of Actionaid International.

“The implication is that this being a fulltime job, I will have to forego all those other positions,” he added.

The lawyer told the lawmakers that his commission was the legal prefect of the government when it came to matters to do with leadership and integrity. The Commission on Administrative Justice is the successor to the Public Complaints Standing Committee, otherwise known as the Ombudsman.

The commission’s duties include investigations into complaints of abuse of power, unfair treatment, manifest injustice or unlawful, oppressive, unfair or unresponsive official conduct within the public sector. It is also required to inquire into allegations of maladministration, delay, administrative injustice, discourtesy, incompetence, misbehaviour, inefficiency or ineptitude within the public service.

It also has to facilitate the setting up of, and build complaint handling capacity in, the sectors of public service, public offices and state organs.

The three member team will have to work with different public institutions to promote alternative dispute resolution methods in the resolution of complaints relating to public administration; and also to  provide advisory opinions or proposals on improvement of public administration, including review of legislation, codes of conduct, processes and procedures.

The three-member commission includes former Kenyatta University lecturer, Dr Regina Mwatha and Sadia Abdikadir Mohammed.

Dr Mwatha has also served as the chair of the National Gender Commission and chaired a taskforce for the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights that laid the ground work for the setting up of the gender commission.

Ms Sadia is a community development officer. She’s a board member of the Wajir Peace University Trust. She has extensive experience in working in arid and semi-arid areas. She was recognised by the Kenya Revenue Authority as a distinguished taxpayer.

The names of the three commissioners will come to Parliament for approval.