Mumo Matemu gets nod to head graft war

By Lucianne Limo

The Court of Appeal has handed Mr Mumo Matemu a lifeline by reversing a decision of the High Court to block his appointment as Chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Yesterday, a five-judge Bench gave Mr Matemu the green light to head the graft commission, which has been running without a chairperson for nearly two years. The appellate judges ruled that evidence presented before them against Matemu was not sufficient to deny him the top job.

“Having reviewed the evidence before us,” the judges said, and noting its insufficiency and inconclusivess, “we have found that the High Court’s conclusion of procedural impropriety on the part of the appointing organs and unsuitability on the part of the appellant (Matemu) cannot be upheld.”

Judges Kihara Kariuki, Patrick Kiage, Agnes Murgor, Kairo Gatembu and William Ouko noted that although fraud accusations levelled against Matemu were serious, the evidence provided was inconclusive.

They further ruled that the evidence against Matemu on the alleged loans he approved when he served as the Company Secretary at Agricultural Finance did not implicate him.

No precision

The court said although the lower court is entitled to a review of appointments to State or public office to determine whether they meet constitutional threshold, the High Court misapplied the doctrine of separation of powers.

“It is our finding that the petition before the High Court was not pleaded with precision as required in constitutional petitions and accordingly, the petition did not meet the standard enunciated in judicial practice, “they said in a unanimous decision. The High Court nullified Matemu’s appointment last September following allegations against him during his tenure as the Legal Officer, Acting Company Secretary, Deputy Chief Legal Officer of the Agricultural Finance Corporation , which they said should be resolved before he assumed office.

In their petition the human rights body claimed Matemu was at worst involved in several shoddy deals that resulted in the farmers’ organisation losing millions of tax payers’ money.

Matemu then moved to the Court of Appeal to quash the decision by a lower court to nullify his nomination.

Through lawyer Waweru Gatonye, Matemu outlined 42 grounds of defence against the decision by High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi to nullify his nomination and gazettement on integrity grounds following a suit filed by a civil society.