MPs reject graft body nominees

By Steve Mkawale

The search for the new anti-graft chief got trickier after a key committee of Parliament rejected President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s nominees to Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The House Legal Committee’s rejection of the team led by Mumo Matemu, capped the initial tussle between the President and the PM on who should head the commission.

Though both eventually settled on Mr Matemu who was rated second in the interview phase, it was reported the PM then preferred lawyer Okong’o Omogeni, who was ranked first and who had the back-up of experience as chairman of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.

It is said when the President and PM settled on Matemu, for reasons of gender parity and regional balance, Jane Kerubo Onsongo got lucky because she is from Kisii like Omogeni.

One more factor was at play as Omogeni was sidestepped; Charles Nyachae who chairs the Constitutional Implementation Commission also comes from this region.

Though the House committee recommended the rejection as it tabled the list, the three nominees would still be vetted by Parliament, but it is unlikely they would have it easy given the reservations of the team.

Original list

If the whole House eventually rejects the list as the committee recommends, then the burden of coming up with a new one would still fall on Kibaki and Raila. They would revert to the original list they got from the recruitment panel.

Sources revealed Matemu’s nomination got into trouble after a lobby group reportedly drew the attention of the committee to the fact that during his tenure as Commissioner of Customs and Excise Department, he failed to enforce a court order surcharging a tyre company Sh2.4 billion due to the Exchequer.

Indeed, when he appeared before the committee on Wednesday morning Matemu was confronted with the question why he failed on this front. He reportedly said that his was just a supervisory role at the Kenya Revenue Authority.

The recruitment panel chaired by Rose Mambo had recommended Omogeni, Matemu and Sarah M Kilemi for appointment.

Omogeni scored the highest with 81.7 points, followed by Matemu with 78.4 points in the race for chairmanship of EACC, for which nine people had been shortlisted.

For the position of member, 164 applications were received out of which 12 people were short-listed.

But in trashing the nominations of Matemu, Prof Onsongo, and Irene Cheptoo Keino who served in the KACC Advisory Board, the committee argued the three merely demonstrated good academic credentials, but lacked the passion for the anti-graft war.

Lack of passion

Sources in Parliament told The Standard their nomination was further undermined not just by the fact the order of performance was ignored, but also because the President and the PM failed to give reasons for endorsing them.

The report tabled by Githunguri MP Njoroge Baiya, asked the House to reject the list on the grounds the nominees "lacked passion, initiative and the drive to lead the fight against corruption".

The team further observed that the three did not demonstrate sufficient interest in the fight against corruption despite their excellent academic qualifications.

Parliament had earlier accused the two principals of failing to beat the deadline of presenting three names to constitute EACC, which takes over from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC).

MPs hurriedly abolished KACC and sent home top directors, including PLO Lumumba, whose deputy was Onsongo.

It is believed the circumstances in which KACC was disbanded still played up in the committee’s mind because some members argued Onsongo and Keino would not bring anything new because one served as Lumumba’s deputy while the other was in the KACC Advisory Board.

Though Onsongo, an accomplished academician, served KACC as Assistant Director in charge of Preventive Services, some MPs felt the docket did not give her adequate experience to take on the position to which she was being appointed.

anglo leasing

One MP revealed the committee got this impression when they listened to her answers on why KACC failed to deal with the multi-billion shilling Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing scandals.

The Independent Ethics Anti-Corruption Commission Act stipulates that the President shall, within 14 days of receipt of the names of successful applicants forwarded, select a chairperson and members of the Commission and forward the names to Parliament for approval.

The committee, in its report, further recommended that future nominations should come with reports outlining the criteria of appointments.

Matemu also chaired the Task Force on Dual Citizenship and had also been shortlisted for the position of chairman of the Police Service Commission.

It is said the two principals had decided to pick on Keino and Onsongo to maintain ‘institutional memory’ in the war against corruption.

Ochilo Polycarp Omolo, a leading journalism lecturer and Robert Francis Shaw, a prominent figure in economic development and human rights issues, had also been shortlisted for commissioners’ slots.