Githu Muigai named as the new AG

Law scholar Githu Muigai was on Tuesday nominated the new Attorney General as the government rushed to beat a Friday deadline to name key constitutional office holders.

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga also nominated Mrs Agnes Nagila Odhiambo the Controller of Budget and Mr Edward Ouko the Auditor General.

This brought to a near end the search for people to occupy the AG’s office which will be vacated by the long serving Amos Wako on Thursday midnight and the new offices of the Controller of Budget and Auditor-General.

“President Kibaki, after consultation with Prime Minister Raila Odinga has nominated Prof Githu Muigai for the position of Attorney General,” said a statement from the Presidential Press Services on Tuesday evening.

An attempt by President Kibaki to nominate Prof Muigai for the post flopped in February this year when Mr Odinga opposed the move on grounds that he had not been consulted.

Earlier in the day, President Kibaki submitted the names of Mrs Odhiambo and Mr Ouko to Parliament to start the process of vetting the nominees. Prof Muigai’s was submitted later in the afternoon.

The fate of the three is now in the hands of Parliament.

And given that the House Justice and Legal Affairs committee is riddled with wrangles, Prof Muigai could be vetted by the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) headed by Abdikadir Mohamed.

Mrs Odhiambo and Mr Ouko will face the Finance committee.

If approved, Prof Muigai will become the first AG under the new Constitution, replacing Mr Wako who retires after a record 20 years.

However, the powers of the AG have been considerably reduced as he is now just the government legal advisor after the function of prosecution went to the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Keriako Tobiko.

Mrs Odhiambo who has been the chief executive at the Constituency Development Fund Board since February 2009, will hold the signature to the Consolidated Fund, a kitty from which ministries and other government departments draw money allocated in the budget.

The Controller of Budget oversees the budgets of the national and county governments.

As Auditor General, Mr Ouko, who has been serving with the African Development Bank, will audit and report on the accounts of county and national governments.

The Auditor-General shall be in office for an eight-year non-renewable term. (Read: Two nominated for budget, auditor jobs)

Sources close to the talks between the President and the PM said they had they walked a tightrope of regional and ethnic balance in making their nominations. Prof Muigai comes from Central, Mrs Odhiambo from Busia (Western) and Mr Ouko from Nyanza.

While the names of candidates for the jobs of Controller of Budget and Auditor General were sourced through a competitive process, it was the prospective nominees for the AG’s position that generated a great deal of politics as PNU and ODM put forward their preferred candidates.

Among the names floated in recent weeks included lawyer Fred Ojiambo, Senior State Counsel Dorcas Oduor, former vice chairperson of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission Betty Murungi and former Director of Public Prosecutions Philip Murgor.

The nominees for the Controller of Budget and Auditor General positions were interviewd by two different panels who submitted a short-list of three names for each post.

The three nominees shall however have to await Parliament’s approval before assuming their respective offices.

It has been a six month long wait for Prof Muigai to finally get the approval of both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to become Kenya’s next AG.

Had President Kibaki had his way, Prof Muigai would have succeeded Mr Wako in February this year but spirited opposition from Mr Odinga and Parliament saw his nomination withdrawn.

By Bernard Namunane, John Ngirachu and Peter Leftie