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{
"id": 1153037,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1153037/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wako",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 366,
"legal_name": "Amos Sitswila Wako",
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"content": "He knew that even though I had not been making noise outside, within Government I was one of the reformers. He assured me in the presence of his wife, Mr. Kereri and Mr. Stanley Murage, when he was on his bed, that when he takes over as President, he would keep me as the Attorney General. However, you always doubt the word of a politician, particularly around that time that ‘ hii ni kusema tu,’ but when time comes, they would let you go. I began to make preparations to leave government. I was elected by the General Assembly to the United Nations by the International Law Commission, just in preparation of my retirement when the NARC Government took over. I now realize that there was no need to make those preparations. As soon as the late President Kibaki took over Government, I could see that even his followers really wanted me out, but he kept his word. He made me stay with him and appreciated my advice. When you have such a person who is giving you more than one chance; who has confidence in you; and you see, his was a reformist government. I had been an Attorney General in the late President Moi’s Government, which people said was not reformist and, therefore, my detractors said that I was a non-reformist. However, he kept me and had confidence in me. The late President Mwai Kibaki had confidence that even if he had sweeping reforms that were coming, as the Attorney General, I would shepherd through those reforms. A man who appreciates you that way is hard to come by. I do not know what I can say. I thank the late His Excellency Emilio Kibaki for giving me a chance to serve him; having confidence in me as a reformist, as the Attorney General and allowing me to serve him almost the entire period he was President, minus one year. I did not serve him in the last year because the new Constitution had said that the then Chief Justice should stay in power for six months, while the then Attorney General should stay in power for one year before they quit. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I really appreciate this man as we say goodbye. The late President Kibaki was a man who was committed in the sense of word to the rule of law and because of brevity of time, I may not go much into that, but I will give you one example of his commitment to the rule of law. Some of you who are old enough in Parliament, like Sen. Poghisio, may remember that just after the Constitution was promulgated, a new Attorney General, Chief Justice and DPP were appointed by the late President Kibaki. I was out of the country at that time and when I came back, I said that, that act by the President was unconstitutional. Mr. Gicheru who was then the Chief Justice, on behalf of the Judicial Service Commission, also said that, that act was unconstitutional as relates to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). In relation to the appointment of the DPP, the Constitution provided that there must be a transparent process of advertising for the job, shortlisting and interviewing publicly before somebody is appointed. The whole thing was unconstitutional. Mr. Speaker, Sir, another President would have said that he has appointed and that is final. However, due to Mwai Kibaki’s commitment to the rule of law and constitutionalism, he revoked all those appointments. I went on to serve one more year, while Mr. Gicheru served six months. The post of the DPP was duly advertised and it"
}