Muhoro's appointment to be challenged in court

By Ally Jamah

Civil society groups have vowed to challenge President Mwai Kibaki’s appointment of Mr. Ndegwa Muhoro as the Director of the Criminal investigations Department in court.

The Civil society groups also said that Muhoro is not fit to hold the position.

The groups, including the International Commission of Jurists-Kenya, Independent Medico-Legal Unit and the Rights Protection Centre said that President went against a report by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority that recommended that Mr. Muhoro should not be appointed to the position due to integrity issues.

On Friday, the President gazetted Muhoro as CID Director as well as Ms Grace Kaindi and Samuel Arachi as the Deputy Inspector Generals of Police.

Their move comes after Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected Kibaki’s appointments on the three critical positions saying he was not consulted as required by the law. Plans are ongoing today to swear in the three appointees.

“IPOA is an independent body with the mandate to scrutinise information presented to it by concerned citizens and it has raised serious integrity issues against Muhoro. We have no option but to challenge the President’s decision in court,” said Peter Kiama IMLU Executive Director Tuesday morning in Nairobi.

He called on the President to select another qualified person from those who were shortlisted for the position or allow the interview process to be done afresh.

“We know it is critical to have the positions filled to ensure proper coordination of the security agencies during the electioneering period but we cannot make any compromises on the issues of integrity. We need the right people on those posts,” he said.

Executive Co-coordinator at Rights Promotion and Protection Center Odhiambo Oyoko said that it was illegal for the president to ignore the express recommendation of IPOA on the alleged unsuitability of Mr. Muhoro saying the institution has the final say on the matter.

“We demand that Muhoro’s appointment be rescinded until all allegations against him are investigated and proper determination be made by competent authorities as to whether he is fit to hold office or not,” he said

Regarding Kaindi and Arachi, the civil society leaders called on IPOA to make public its investigations on the two to enable Kenyans determine whether they are fit to hold office or not. But so far they have not called for their replacement.

Muhoro was the Acting Director of CID before he was confirmed by Kibaki while Ms. Kaindi was the commandant of Kenya Airports Police Unit (KAPU) and Mr. Arachi was the Acting Commandant of the Administration Police.

The civil society groups spoke under the banner of the Police Reforms Working Group-Kenya which also includes the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Legal Resources Foundaion, Coalition on Violence Against Women, FIDA-Kenya, and the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders