Furore over rejection of Uhuru's nominee for Secretary to Cabinet

Monica Juma

The move by National Assembly to reject the nomination of Monica Juma as Secretary to the Cabinet continued to receive condemnation across the country.

But some legislators have absolved their colleagues from blame, saying the decision to reject President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nominee should be respected.

The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) said the National Assembly’s decision was not based on objective criteria.

“As state officers, the members of the National Assembly are duty bound, both as individuals and collectively as an institution to uphold the highest standards of integrity. Their decisions must never be informed by any other consideration other than public interest,” CIC said in a statement.

And former Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said he personally knew all the members of the committee led by Asman Kamama to be generally good leaders and hence their decision to reject Juma’s nomination was motivated by “certain greed and self-interest.”

“I do not want to open a dossier that I know as a senior citizen and long serving Government former official who served at a high position in 2nd, 3rd and the current seating (sic) fourth President of Kenya. I appeal to the members and chairman to recall their recommendation and recommend the current PS Juma to be appointed to that new position,” Kimaiyo said in a statement.

Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya said the move was an indication of thriving impunity among MPs in pursuit of vested interest.

Speaking in Bomet alongside Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, Mr Munya said it was sad that Dr Juma was being fought unfairly by MPs for acting within the law at the Interior ministry.

He asked the President to resubmit the name of Juma to Parliament for approval, saying she deserves the position for her exemplary performance as a civil servant over the past few years.

Governors Ruto and Oparanya concurred with Munya’s sentiments saying it was an unfortunate for MPs to have gone personal on the nominee.

Nakuru County Speaker Susan Kihika also accused MPs of using National Assembly to settle personal scores.

Kihika revisited the sacking of former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza and Judiciary Registrar Gladys Shollei in the last couple of years.

“We have seen the continued oppression of women in the country and the latest setback was the rejection Monica Juma by National Assembly,” she said during a church service at St Xavier Catholic Church in Naivasha that was also attended by her counterparts Wahome Ndegwa (Nyandarua) and Japeth Mutai (Kericho).

“The National Assembly is behaving like a rabies dog that bites everyone and its time it was contained before more harm is done,” she said.

Ndegwa expressed his anger over the manner in which National Assembly was dealing with national issues.

Meanwhile, Ndaragwa MP Waweru Nderitu has defended the National Assembly over the rejection of Juma’s nomination.

The MP said the National Assembly will not be used as rubber stamp to approve government officials simply because the President has presented their names.

Speaking while on tour of various CDF project in his Ndaragwa constituency, the MP said officials whose character was questionable must be acted upon in order to restore the public image and confidence.

The MP said the move to reject Juma should not be misconstrued to mean that the MPs do not support the president.

And two nominated MPs Johnson Sakaja and Isaac Mwaura have asked Kenyans not to make the rejection of Juma as a gender issue.

The legislators, who absolved their colleagues from blames of being malicious, said the decision by MPs to reject Juma should be respected because it was informed by the conduct of her manner of handling the lawmakers.

Speaking Sunday during the commemoration of The International Albinism Awareness Day, Sakaja who termed the rejection as unfortunate noted that Parliament has in the past approved six women and there was no way they would discriminate Juma based on her gender.

Sakaja criticised CIC for terming the rejection of Juma as an abuse of office and threatening to go to court over the issue.

“CIC should stick to its core mandate. It’s the same constitution which they are implementing that gave Parliament powers to either approve or disapprove a nominee. Just because they are displeased with Parliament decision should not make them threaten to go to court,” said Sakaja.

Mwaura said other women nominees by President Kenyatta have been approved by parliamentarians from across the political divide, but Juma should blame her poor people handling skills for her rejection.

The ODM MP noted that the National Assembly members are not ‘rubber stamps’ and said the fact that Juma was rejected even by MPs allied to Jubilee should be a testament that majority of the legislators had no faith in her.