House adopts report barring JSC nominee Warsame
Court of Appeal Judge Mohammed Warsame. He was nominate to the Judicial Service Commission. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- MPs accusing the Judiciary of interfering with their constitutional mandate.
- On March 20, President Kenyatta forwarded Mr Warsame’s name to the House for vetting after his election.
The National Assembly has adopted a protest report by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee blocking the appointment of Court of Appeal judge Mohammed Warsame to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on account that he was not vetted and approved by MPs.
The MPs ignored prohibitory orders served on House Speaker Justin Muturi by the High Court that Justice Warsame should not be vetted, pending the hearing and determination of the case JSC filed in court.
The move is likely to escalate hostilities between the National Assembly and the Judiciary, and may even extend to the Executive since the President Uhuru Kenyatta has been dragged in.
NOMINATED
The two government institutions have been on each other’s case, with MPs accusing the Judiciary of interfering with their constitutional mandate.
In retaliation, the National Assembly has been reducing the budgetary allocation to the Judiciary.
Adoption of the protest report comes after the committee chaired by Baringo North MP William Cheptumo failed to vet Justice Warsame within 14 days as required by the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act.
On March 20, President Kenyatta forwarded Mr Warsame’s name to the House for vetting after his election by Court of Appeal judges for the second time to the commission.
Mr Muturi would then submit the name to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.
COURT CASE
The committee was to conduct approval hearings and table the report within 14 days.
Committee chairman Cheptumo had on Tuesday admitted that his committee was unable to vet the nominee as required since JSC had filed a case in court and obtained prohibitory orders.
The JSC is opposed to vetting of the judge, saying it is unconstitutional. The hearing of the case starts on May 23.
“The committee is not in a position to vet the judge and submit a report as required by the law,” Mr Cheptumo said on Wednesday.
When the report came up for debate on Tuesday, the MPs, through Kirinyaga Central MP Munene Wambugu, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, successfully amended it to remove a provision gagging the House from considering it until the court is done with the case.
ELECTED
But they could not marshal the required numbers to take a vote, pushing it to Wednesday (yesterday).
The commission — which employs judicial officers, among them judges and magistrates — argues that the judge was validly elected by Appeal Court judges to represent their interests and therefore there is no need of being vetted by MPs.
“Approval of Justice Warsame by Parliament is neither provided for in the Constitution nor in the Judicial Service Act 2011,” Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi said in the letter to Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Michael Sialai.
