MPs question nominees for Judiciary jobs

PHOTO/STEPHEN MUDIARI

Dr Willy Mutunga and Ms Nancy Barasa during the vetting by MPs at County Hall in Nairobi on June 7, 2011.

MPs on Tuesday questioned nominees for the top two jobs in the Judiciary and the new office of public prosecutor.

Dr Willy Mutunga (for Chief Justice) and Ms Nancy Barasa (Deputy CJ) appeared before Parliament’s Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee in the morning.

They were taken to task over their stand on abortion, divorce and same sex relations following concerns raised by religious leaders.

Dr Mutunga reiterated his respect for family values and the rights of all people, irrespective of their sexual orientation. He pledged to enforce the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

“Let me say it straight out. I am not gay. I don’t discriminate against gay people,” he said, adding that he treasured the family as the smallest unit of society.

He declined to give his personal views on abortion, saying as Chief Justice he would not be guided by personal views but the law.

“My constant north, if I get this job, will be the Constitution,” said Dr Mutunga, who taught law at the University of Nairobi before he was detained in 1982.

Ms Barasa said her research on same sex relations was inspired by professional experiences at the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission and lately at the Kenya Law Reform Commission where she is deputy chair.

Ms Barasa said her research would help Kenyans, especially the health sector where the gays and lesbians are not catered for.

“Those who say I’m supporting them (gays and lesbians) are jumping the gun. I have gone into the unknown. I have no findings yet,” said Ms Barasa.

She caused laughter when she said: “I’m not a lesbian. If I were a lesbian, there are some very good friends of mine in this room (and) I would have dated them.”

But it was Mr Keriako Tobiko, nominated for Director of Public Prosecutions, who had the hardest time. Mr Tobiko spent the better part of the afternoon defending his integrity and track record.

The committee revisited claims by Prof Yash Pal Ghai and other civil society activists linking him to incompetence, abuse of office and patronage.

His performance since he was appointed in May 2005 also came up for scrutiny, with the committee focusing on his handling of cases related to the 2008 post-election violence. 

There were fresh allegations by former Local Government Permanent Secretary Sammy Kirui that Mr Tobiko used third parties to demand a Sh5 million bribe without which he would increase the charges against him over the Nairobi cemetery scandal from one to three.

Mr Kirui claimed he had a text message to that effect and had submitted it to the National Security Intelligence Service.

Mr Tobiko denied the allegations, saying he did not know Mr Kirui and was hearing the allegations for the first time on Tuesday.

Dr Mutunga said he was happy to face critics and address their concerns.

“My community, the Kamba, have a saying that ‘When you go for circumcision, you go naked so I’m okay. I’m happy to answer these personal questions. I’m aware that we are in an era where leaders are being held accountable. I’m cool with that,” said Dr Mutunga

He had with him his curriculum vitae, a copy of Desmond Tutu’s God is Not a Christian and a copy of the Constitution that he referred to throughout the hearing.

Dr Mutunga also spoke of his ongoing divorce case, citing it as a potential cause of conflict of interest. He said ending a marriage had “its own problems, its own pains and is not a casual affair.”

Dr Mutunga described himself as man of all religions, having practised traditional religion in his childhood before being baptised as a Protestant, confirmed as a Catholic and later adopting Islam.

His baptismal name is William, he said, and had acquired Jacob as a Catholic, before adopting Wali Mohammed when he converted to Islam.

Dr Mutunga said he had visited synagogues, the Jews’ house of worship. “For me, the earring is about my religion, about my beliefs.”