Shape up or ship out, MPs tell Kenya Truth commission

TJRC chairman Bethuel Kiplagat at his office at Delta House, Nairobi, shortly after his commissioners agreed to have him investigated in April. Photo/FILE

The beleaguered Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission has until one 1pm on Sunday to shape up or have Parliament begin the process of disbanding it.

Speaking on Thursday after a one-hour meeting with the commissioners, the chairman of Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, Mr Ababu Namwamba, said the national healing body had 72 hours within which to sort out its troubles.

“They have to find a solution to their credibility problems within 72 hours, failure to which this committee shall move without any delay to recommend to Parliament that this commission be dissolved through legislation,” Mr Namwamba said. “We shall not and we’ll not engage in the process of perpetual discussion.”

The MP, who was flanked by all the members of his committee except Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohammed, said his team was ready to table a new Bill in Parliament to repeal the current TJRC and set up a new body.

“There’s need to ensure that this commission is up and running at the soonest time possible,” he said.

The move to disband the commission targets the chairman, Mr Bethuel Kiplagat, who though vetted and approved by Parliament, has been under a barrage of accusations from a section of the public over his past record in government.

On Thursday, Mr Namwamba was categorical that his was a “concrete decision” on the fate of the commission.

“We are of the opinion that Parliament and the people of Kenya cannot wait forever,” he said. “This is not a threat to the commission. It is a decision.”

He said the time was enough for the commission to use its internal mechanisms to solve the problem “which they all know and can solve.”

The chairman said that if Parliament reached a point where it will have to recommend its disbandment, then, all the debts of the commission will be paid.

He said the 74 staff at TJRC’s secretariat and branch offices, plus the 413 statement takers will also be cushioned against loss of jobs, while the commissioners will be sent home.

“Unless and until the questions of credibility and integrity of the commission are sorted out, then, it won’t achieve the objectives it was set up to achieve,” he said.

But a section of MPs from the Rift Valley expressed confidence in Mr Kiplagat and vowed to stand by the outfit should any move be made in Parliament to disband it.

The group of 20 lawmakers further pledged to lobby for both financial and political support for the TJRC.

Led by Justice and Constitutional Affairs assistant minister William Cheptumo, they said Mr Kiplagat not only needed to be respected, but also supported by the entire nation.

“People really don’t understand how important the TJRC is to this country. Calls for its disbandment or resignation of members who comprise it are neither here nor there,” said Mosop MP David Koech during a breakfast meeting at the city’s Hilton Hotel.

On Wednesday, Mr Kiplagat wrote to Chief Justice Evan Gicheru stating that he would only resign if a tribunal to investigate him was constituted as stipulated in the TJRC Act.