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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muite",
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"legal_name": "Paul Kibugi Muite",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Departmental Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs on the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) nominee to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Advisory Board laid on the Table of the House on Wednesday, 28th March, 2007. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Report has been available to hon. Members for a very long time. A vacancy arose in the Advisory Board of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission due to a resignation of the lady who was originally nominated by FIDA. Hon. Members would remember that the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act has a schedule of the organisations that are supposed to nominate members to the Advisory Board. One of those bodies is FIDA. So, when the vacancies arose - in fact, they were two; the nominee by the Law Society of Kenya and the nominee by FIDA--- The former Chairman of LSK, who was also the Chairman of the Advisory Board, Mr. Abdullahi Ahmednasir, resigned over the saga relating to the nomination of Dr. Rotich. I would like to draw the attention of hon. Members to the fact that the Departmental Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs, as it appears in its report, took its work very seriously. In fact, as it will appear from the minutes of the deliberations of the Committee which are annexed to the Report, the initial nominee of FIDA came before the Committee. We examined her experience and curriculum vitae (CV). Given the very heavy responsibility of the Advisory Board of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, we found that the initial nominee's qualifications, experience, CV and track record did not match the high expectation of the calibre of people to sit on the Advisory Board. Therefore, this Committee, as it can be recollected, laid an initial report where we recommendation the adoption of the nominee of the Law Society of Kenya, and the rejection of the nominee of FIDA. So, FIDA was obliged to look for a more suitable person to nominate to that very important Board. They forwarded two names. Again, the Committee sat 404 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 4, 2007 and evaluated the CVs, experiences and track records of the two nominees who had been proposed. Finally, we settled for a particular individual who the Committee is recommending to this House to nominate to the Board. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to mention that the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act is an example of how power can be shared between the Executive and this House with respect to appointments to important public offices. It is a very good trend! The other one is the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) where hon. Members will recollect that the names are brought to this House and it is this House that makes the decision. The Departmental Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs takes its work so seriously that we have actually travelled all the way to the USA to study how the Senate goes about verification of nominees to important public positions. In fact, the Committee was privileged to have witnessed the deliberations of the Senate when confirming the current Chief Justice of the USA. We also visited the State of New York to see how they go about it. Without, in any manner, anticipating debate, hon. Members will recollect that this Committee has drafted and drawn a very comprehensive Report to seek how to guide this House on verification of important public appointments where the House is required to verify appointments to high public offices. This is increasingly an important duty which needs to be extended across. As you are aware, in fact, this is one of the issues that are very important in the new constitutional dispensation. From time immemorial, this country has seen abuse of power by the Executive of the day when it comes to appointments to key public positions. So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what is being suggested is that all these appointments be subjected to Parliamentary approval. This is going to be increasingly a very important job. So, I would urge the House that when that Report is laid on the table of the House to study it and take it seriously so that we can do this important job of approving or disapproving important public appointments, as a House. This will ensure that this power can be shared between the Executive and this House. You will recall the uproar recently about the appointment of the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). Besides qualifications, there are other issues to be taken into account. The consumer friendly language these days is not ethnicity. It is to talk about regional diversity of the Kenyan people. However, it is an important aspect of the matter. The KNCHR Act, for example, specifically requires this House, when approving appointments as Commissioners to the KNCHR, to factor in the regional diversity of the Kenyan people. That phrase is actually in the Act of Parliament. That is what the Committee has done and what this House does. Out of the nine Commissioners, we ensure that, at least, each province produces a Commissioner. If you look at the current Commissioners of the KNCHR, you will see that there is a Commissioner from the Coast, North Eastern, Nairobi, Central, Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces. The other one can represent the whole country. We think that this is an important direction in which to go. It is important because it brings cohesion. Take the best from Rift valley, Nyanza, Central and other provinces because that is the regional diversity of the Kenyan people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we are going to remain as one nation, that is a factor that must continue to be taken into account. So, that position of the Governor, for example, is one of the positions we are saying should be subjected to Parliamentary approval. I suspect that if that had come for Parliamentary approval, questions would have been raised by hon. Members as to whether this Mr. Ndung'u is absolutely the only one in the whole country. Were there other equally qualified individuals; perhaps, even better qualified? We want to be more open and transparent. We want all these things to be done in a very transparent manner. That can only happen when this House is given the mandate to subject appointments to Parliamentary approval. So, this is a very important aspect. We do not want to leave any region or community. We want to be fair! April 4, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 405 Where it is Parliament which is approving, it becomes very difficult, in fact, to sway it to make approval in respect of a person who is not qualified in every respect. You cannot influence 222 hon. Members. If this approval goes through a Committee, the Report is laid here and hon. Members are debating it, you will find that it is only the best; the most qualified, taking into account regional diversity, who will get appointed. We want all these positions; the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Director of Intelligence to be approved by Parliament. These are important positions where the individual should owe his loyalty to the people of Kenya. When the appointments are subjected to Parliamentary approval, that is how it is going to happen. You will find that we are going to give security of tenure to those people. They will be insulated against political manipulations. They will be able to discharge the duties of their office without fear or favour of anyone and, without being the agents of the Government of the day. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we make these contributions, we are not targeting the current regime. The first regime did the same. The second did the same and this one is also doing the same thing. If there is a change of regime, I suspect that without this re-arrangement of sharing this power between the Executive and Parliament, whoever comes in will follow in the same trend of appointing people from one community or region. So, time has come for us to put an end to this. This can only happen through a re-arrangement of this constitutional power so as to require Parliamentary approval of all important public positions, including the Judiciary. It is shrouded in secrecy! How do you go about identifying who are to be appointed as judges? How can we tolerate, as a country, a situation where we say that judges are going to be appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)? However, examine who appoints the judges. The Chairman of the JSC is the Chief Justice. Who appoints the Chief Justice? It is the President without consulting anyone! Who is the other member of the JSC? It is the Attorney-General, who again is an appointee of the Executive. The Executive does not have to consult anyone. The chairperson of the Public Service Commission is also a member of the JSC. He is also another appointee of the President. Who are the other two members because they are supposed to be five of them? If you look at Section 62 of the Kenyan Constitution, it says another two judges, either from the High Court or the Court of Appeal, appointed by the President. So, you have a situation where the entire membership of the Judicial Service Commission actually comprises of Presidential appointees. Is that really an independent Judicial Service Commission that can identify independent judges and that sort of thing? The answer, obviously, is no. So, what we are saying is that we need to open up the manner in which judges are identified. Let them apply for appointment. Let those who apply be subjected to vetting. We should analyse their qualifications, track record, integrity, ability and suitability. When they are appointed, let them have absolute security of tenure, including operational financial autonomy. That is the way to strengthen the Judiciary. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a powerful and independent Judiciary is for the good of all of us today, tomorrow and in the future. When you do not give financial autonomy to the Judiciary--- You will find that there are courtrooms in this country which are an absolute horror. You may not have had an occasion to visit the law courts in Naivasha. I was amused the other day when I was watching television and I saw a huge snake coming out at a public rally in Naivasha where hon. Michuki was addressing a meeting. It was a fairly huge snake. I do not know what is wrong with Naivasha, but snakes love Naivasha. If you go to the Magistrates Court in Naivasha, which was built during the colonial days, it has a raised wooden floor. In some places, the wooden floor has given way because it is very old. I can, surely, tell you, appearing as a lawyer in the law courts in Naivasha, you could be one alert person, but you cannot even concentrate. The magistrate, too, cannot concentrate because from time to time, you will find a snake popping up in the 406 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 4, 2007 courtroom."
}