MPs get numbers for Waiguru sack motion

It was a first-round victory for Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter in his efforts to impeach Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru.

The final list of MPs who want Ms Waiguru kicked out of office was yesterday morning handed over to the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly Justin Bundi for scrutiny and forwarding to the Speaker for approval.

Though the exact number of the people who had signed the list is unclear, official sources inside the National Assembly confirmed to The Standard that the list that was submitted to the Clerk had met the required threshold – 88 MPs.

Mr Keter and Daniel Maanzo (Makueni, Wiper) said the list they had submitted had at least 92 lawmakers who had signed the petition, and it would have been 97 had some MPs allied to the United Republican Party (URP) not withdrawn their signatures.

The motion will go through the legal department of the National Assembly so that the parliamentary lawyers ascertain that all the grounds listed are sufficient for the removal of a cabinet secretary from office as per the Constitution.

Article 152(6) of the Constitution prescribes that a Cabinet secretary can be removed on the "ground of a gross violation of a provision of this Constitution or of any other law; where there are serious reasons for believing that the cabinet secretary has committed a crime under national or international law; or for gross misconduct."

Keter and Mr Maanzo want Waiguru sacked for the theft of Sh791 million in the National Youth Service. They also accused her of skewed distribution of Government projects.

For Keter, the lobbying continues because he wants the initial vote to sail through to have Waiguru face a special committee.

The Constitution requires the backing of 117 MPs — one-third of the House— to form a special committee to grill the CS.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale (Garissa Township) and all Jubilee bosses in the House have already said they will not allow any of their members to vote for the sacking of Waiguru.

Keter and Maanzo urged Speaker Justin Muturi to be "very firm" so as not to submit the National Assembly to the wishes of the Judiciary.

They said the court had no business trying to gag MPs from doing their job, because the Standing Order that the court cited was implementing the Constitution.

"The Constitution cannot be illegal. It gives the National Assembly powers to vote to compel the President to sack a Cabinet secretary," said Maanzo, who spoke to The Standard on phone from Uganda.

Mr Duale also said the courts erred in telling MPs they should not execute the impeachment of the Cabinet secretary until the legality of the Standing Orders that deal with the process is determined.