IPOA lauds Parliament for rejecting Monica Juma's nomination as Secretary to the Cabinet

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority has lauded Parliament's rejection of President Uhuru Kenyatta's nominee for Secretary to the Cabinet Monica Juma.

IPOA chairman Macharia Njeru said Ms. Juma was difficult to work with and rude to the authority.

Njeru said Dr. Juma once wrote the authority a rude and disrespectful letter despite her position.

"Public servants must know they are in office to serve the public and not for their gains. They must work with the people. She was a poor leader and we support Parliament's move to reject her nomination," said Njeru.

Njeru added that Dr. Juma also refused to meet him for discussion on various administrative issues. IPOA is the monitor of police operations and reports to the Parliament.

Parliament rejected her nomination on Thursday in a stormy debate.

MPs voted to support a report by the committee that vetted Dr. Juma, the current Interior Principal Secretary, and recommended that she was unsuitable for the top seat whose holder sits in the Cabinet.

The decision of the House has put the President in a legal dilemma because it effectively means that Juma may not continue in public service given that the people's representatives have decided.

MPs voted 163-55 to reject the proposed extension by 10 days, and then voted verbally to reject Juma's nomination. Three MPs abstained from the vote.

President Kenyatta has expressed disappointment at the rejection.

He said the nomination of Amb. Dr. Juma was informed by the distinction and success she has earned in serving the nation as the Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, as the Defence Principal Secretary and in her current position of Principal Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior and Coordination of National Government.