Anti-graft team to be vetted afresh as MPs skip session

What you need to know:

  • The amendment by Mr Wamalwa received overwhelming support by the House.
  • The President declined to assent to it, instead sending it back with the memorandum.

All Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission staff will now be vetted afresh, after MPs on Thursday failed to raise enough numbers to overturn a recommendation by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The President, through a presidential memorandum, had asked that the EACC Act be amended to include a clause requiring that the staff be taken through a mandatory vetting instead of targeting only two members of the commission’s secretariat.

To overturn the suggestion, the House was supposed to raise two-thirds of the total members (233) but yesterday was largely deserted when the President’s proposals were brought for adoption or rejection.

Members who had put up amendments to delete the proposals in the memorandum were forced to drop them upon seeing that they could not raise the requisite numbers.

DECLINED TO ASSENT

The President’s recommendation was to counter a proposal to kick out EACC chief executive Halakhe Waqo and his deputy, Michael Mubea, that was proposed through an amendment sponsored by Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa.

The amendment by Mr Wamalwa received overwhelming support by the House, but the President declined to assent to it, instead sending it back with the memorandum.

Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga said vetting should have been shortened so that the commission’s staff were not put in panic mode for long.

“The reason the committee felt that it should be six months is because we wanted to hurry up the exercise so that we do not make the people at EACC wait for too long to know whether they should be removed or retained. The staff should not be left in limbo for long,” said Mr Chepkonga on Thursday.

He was supported by Mr Wamalwa, who was forced to drop the amendment to delete the President’s suggestions following the failure to get the House numbers.

“I thank the President for saying there should be vetting, but saying that should be done in 12 months is not good. This is a bit too long. It should have been six months so that we finish with it sooner,” said Mr Wamalwa.

The Bill will now be sent back to the President after the House adopted it and the vetting will commence upon its assent.