Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 618948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/618948/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 152,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "The Committee also finds that the JSC failed to provide leadership in providing broad guidelines for finance and human resource policies. The Commission should also have been in the forefront in implementing the Judiciary Transformation Framework by providing leadership. By delving into operational matters and in some instances usurping the powers of the CRJ and various departmental heads, the JSC is culpable of overstepping its mandate and failing to discharge its powers in the spirit of Article 172 of the Constitution. The many public altercations members of the JSC had with the CRJ brought the Judiciary into disrepute. By not having a list of approved prequalified suppliers and approving tenders without budgetary provisions, the Judiciary opens itself to obvious procurement malpractices. It is inexcusable that an entire arm of Government resorted to engaging suppliers/contractors many times either through phone calls or by word of mouth. The excuse of wanting things done fast in tandem with the Judiciary’s ambitious reform programme could not be justification for flouting laws and regulations. The Committee further finds the tendency by some Commissioners of the JSC to ask to be paid sitting allowance for court visits and trainings that they attended as not only irresponsible, but also reprehensible in the extreme. It may seem that the JSC was seen more as a cash-cow by some Commissioners During the period under review, Mrs. Gladys Boss Shollei was the Chief Registrar and presided over the many administrative malpractices. As the chief administrator and accounting officer and with wide ranging powers vested in her office, some of which she quoted in her defence over alleged interference by the JSC, this Committee finds her largely culpable. The Committee takes great exception to the former Chief Registrar for deliberately misleading it on the matter of the acquisition of Mayfair Court Centre and strongly reprimands her. Irrefutable evidence shows that she personally accepted the offer by signing the letter of offer from the landlord’s agents and executed the lease on 16th September 2011. Those premises went on unoccupied for two years after payment of rent of Kshs7,392,000. The Committee finds that she was unable to cultivate a healthy working relationship with her employer, the JSC. Section 8(k) of the Judicial Service Act states that the Chief Registrar should maintain and develop co-operation with key staff in the Public Service and other institutions and agencies. During her submission, she informed the Committee that the JSC was at constant loggerheads with her. She operated in a fractious and dysfunctional environment and sometimes failed to attend Commission sittings, notwithstanding her statutory position as the secretary to the Commission. Management of minutes of sittings of the Commission was appallingly poor. Mrs. Gladys Boss Shollei constituted the tender committee in the Judiciary and was responsible for ensuring that they met the threshold required. The Committee finds that the Finance Directorate and the tender committee secretaries were not the most qualified in their respective directorates. This is after Mrs. Shollei’s assertion that they were more qualified than their seniors at the time. The lease of office space and second hand furniture at Rahimtulla Towers were found to be dubious. The premise remains at 50 per cent occupancy level to date, indicating a The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}