Justin Muturi orders appeal of court order on Ouko probe

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi says he will obey but will appeal court order stopping hearing a petition seeking the removal of Auditor-General Edward Ouko.

In his ruling on Tuesday, Mr Muturi termed as premature the attempt by the High Court to stop the House from doing its job.

He said the order issued by Justice Chacha Mwita temporarily stopping consideration of the petition is meant to impede the work of the National Assembly.

The judge, he said, was wrong.

WIGHTY

The decision was going to be made on Thursday last week but Mr Muturi pushed it to Tuesday, ostensibly because the matter is weighty and he needed more time to think about it as well as consult legal advisers.

Those who oppose the petition and back the court decision, such as lawyer George Kegoro, argue that whereas the courts should not ordinarily interfere with Parliament, they are on solid ground when they do so while the House acts as a quasi-judicial body.

“When sitting as an organ in removal proceedings, Parliament and its committees acts as a quasi-judicial body," said Mr Kegoro in a commentary in the Sunday Nation.

"All quasi-judicial bodies are subject to the review powers of the High Court. In relation to Mr Ouko, it is those powers that the High Court has twice invoked.”

The Speaker's decision is a big blow to Mr Ouko who would have been happy to see the petition stopped until after the issues are thrashed out in court.

NO LINK

That is because it would create a likely scenario where MPs angry at his actions endorse the petition and recommend that the President set up a tribunal to investigate his conduct.

But he can stop even that tribunal from working like the Judicial Service Commission did in 2015 when the National Assembly defied another court order and went ahead on a petition against three of its members.

Having a decision by the House to have him investigated over allegations abuse of office, wastage of public funds and corruption would, however, not bode well for the man who heads the office that is the principal adviser of Parliament in its oversight of the expenditure of all other arms of government.

Earlier this week, Siaya businessman and gubernatorial aspirant said there was no link between a company he headed and Mr Ouko and dismissed allegations that the Sh36 million Westcon Africa was paid was meant as a kickback for the Auditor-General.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story and an alert sent out at 1500hours EAT had indicated that Mr Muturi had chosen to defy court orders stopping Mr Ouko's probe. This is not the case. The error is regretted.