Govt on the spot over yet another ‘illegal’ appointment
PHOTO | FILE Law Society of Kenya chairman Eric Mutua says the appointment of Albert Mwilitsa to the Standards Tirbunal is illegal as the chair of the tribunal must be either an advocate of at least seven years standing or a former judge of the High Court.
Lawyers have rejected Friday’s appointment of an election loser to chair the Standards Tribunal of the Kenya Bureau of Standards as illegal as appointment goofs continued to haunt the Jubilee administration.
Through a gazette notice, Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed revoked the appointment of Aggrey Shitsama Ambwenga and appointed Mr Albert Mwilitsa as the chairman of the Standards Tribunal.
But the Law Society of Kenya chairman Eric Mutua said the appointment is illegal as the chair of the tribunal must be either an advocate of at least seven years standing or a former judge of the High Court.
“Mr Albert Mwilitsa is not a lawyer. Either someone is sleeping on the job or there is a deliberate attempt to flaunt the law,” Mr Mutua said.
Mr Mutua also said the removal of the chair of the Tribunal requires a tribunal.
“Unless there has been an amendment to section 16A (3) of The Standards Act the action by the CS is illegal. I hope somebody will advise the CS to revoke this appointment before we move to court,” Mr Mutua said.
Mr Mwilitsa quit as Turkana North DC to contest the Kakamega governor seat on a TNA ticket and lost to ODM’s Wycliffe Oparanya.
The Tribunal acts as an independent quasi-judicial body and its main objective is to dispense justice through a fair, open and expeditious manner without recourse to undue technicalities.
Their job is to hear appeals from “any person aggrieved by a decision of the Kenya Bureau of Standards or the National Standards Council”.
The second function of the Tribunal is to act as a point of reference to the managing director of Kenya Bureau of Standards by giving general directions to the Director on matters involving a point of law or matters of unusual importance or complexity upon reference to it by the director.
PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL
President Kenyatta has also come under heavy criticism over the appointment of gadfly 2013 presidential candidate Abduba Dida as chairman of the Constituency Development Fund, replacing Ms Jennifer Barasa whose appointment was revoked.
However, for one to chair the CDF Board he or she must be a board member nominated by one of the nominating bodies and be vetted by the relevant House team.
All board members must also secure Parliamentary approval prior to gazettement.
According to the CDF Act 2013: "The Cabinet Secretary shall appoint the Chairperson of the Board from amongst the four persons appointed in accordance with paragraph (d) of subsection (2).
"The names and curriculum vitae of the persons nominated to be appointed as members of the Board pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection (2) shall be submitted to Parliament for approval before appointments are made."
The government has also been criticised for appointment of Mr Francis Muthaura as chairman of the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) board.
The Head of State had also blundered when he appointed Mr John Mututho as head of the anti-drugs agency, Nacada, only to later revoke the move before proper procedure was followed through involvement of Parliament.
Generally, the appointments have been criticised for ignoring youth, regional and gender balance and only rewarding President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto allies and political losers.
Mr Ruto admitted that President Kenyatta was misadvised in making some appointments that contravened the law.
(Read: Uhuru was misled on jobs - Ruto)
Reacting to a question on the recent appointments of parastatal heads that have sparked criticism, Mr Ruto said “hard questions” would be asked to those who advised the President to approve them.
“(This) should not have happened,” he said when he appeared on Citizen TV’s morning talk show, Cheche. “We will be asking them very hard questions.”
Meanwhile, Pokot leaders have welcomed recent parastatal appointments made by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Led by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, the leaders signalled out the appointment of former Cabinet Minister Samuel Poghisio to chair the Civil Aviation Authority as a major recognition of the community.
“We are happy for having been given one parastatal. We Pokot leaders and community are very grateful because there’s a saying in our community that when you go to hunt and manage to get something but one of you is injured, you must pass at the home of the person who was injured and leave one cow.
In this case, Poghisio was injured during the last General Election and we are happy he has been given something. We assure the government of our unwavering support,” Mr Pkosing said.
The MP told the Nation by phone that the community was also happy with development projects initiated by the government in the larger Pokot region including tarmacking of roads, water and electricity supply.
He said the government had also promised to establish a public training college in West Pokot this year as there was none in the area.
“We want to assure the government that we will fully support the projects,” Mr Pkosing said.
Mr Poghisio was among 36 parastatal chairmen appointed by President Kenyatta in December
