The National Assembly has voted to dismiss a report of its committee recommending the removal of Ms Tabitha Mutemi as a board member of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK).
The Communication, Information and Innovation Committee had recommended that Ms Mutemi be removed from the MCK board on account that she is a public officer and cannot therefore serve in the council.
Ms Mutemi is currently the Corporate Affairs and Events Manager with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The committee, chaired by Marakwet West MP William Kisang, had recommended that ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru forms a tribunal to investigate the appointment of Ms Mutemi in line with the MCK Act, with the possibility of recommending her removal.
But the MPs dismissed the committee’s recommendation, arguing that it was malicious.
MPs Godfrey Osotsi (nominated), Robert Mbui (Kathiani), Makali Mulu (Kitui Central), Sabina Chege (Murang’a woman rep), David ole Sankok (nominated) and Charles Kilonzo (Yatta) accused the committee of denying Ms Mutemi the right to appear before it to defend herself.
This forced House Speaker Justin Muturi to warn committees that it is against the rule of natural justice to deny an accused person a fair hearing.
“It is against the rules for committees to deny a person the opportunity to appear before a committee to be heard,” Speaker Muturi said, confirming the shoddiness of the committee’s work.
“Members of such committees should be the first to notify the Speaker of any transgression,” Mr Muturi added.
House committees are supposed to conduct their business, more so petitions, in a quasi-judicial manner.
As he attacked the committee’s report, Mr Kilonzo reminded his colleagues of Speaker Muturi’s communication against denying the accused persons the chance to appear and be heard by House committees.
However, the Speaker did not respond to his calls to have the Powers and Privileges Committee investigate the committee for denying people the right to appear before it.
The MPs, in advancing their case to dismiss the report, questioned why the committee was engaging in the boardroom wars at the MCK instead of offering the much required oversight.
“The accusations levelled against Ms Mutemi are very minor in nature,” Mr Mbui, who is also the House’s deputy minority leader, said.
“This is a person who applied for a position that was advertised and got appointed. This is malicious. There are precedents,” the Kathiani MP said, noting that already, there are IEBC employees serving in various public boards.
Mr Osotsi, who gave a dissenting opinion, accused his own committee of denying Ms Tabitha a fair hearing while considering the petition.
“The process of removing Ms Mutemi was supposed to be quasi-judicial. This committee requested for more time but when it sat we took less than two hours to consider the petition without hearing from the accused or petitioner,” said Mr Osotsi.
He also noted that the committee overlooked a previous petition filed by the Kenya Editors Guild (Keg) President Churchill Otieno questioning an earlier attempt by MCK Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo to remove Ms Mutemi from the board.
“It is important that the petitioner ought to have been invited. Ms Tabitha made requests that she be allowed but was never granted. Looking at all the issues you can see that the committee did not consider the material facts that were presented to this House,” said Mr Osotsi.
According to Mr Makali, claims that Ms Mutemi was a public officer and cannot, therefore, be appointed a member of the MCK board are misguided.
“This report has many gaps. The appointment was done more than two years ago and IEBC was aware. Why now?” Mr Makali posed even as he claimed that Mr Omwoyo is running away from accountability at the MCK.
“Someone is running away from accountability. The MCK CEO doesn’t want to be held accountable and the committee is running away from its responsibility. Parliament must be on the frontline demanding accountability like we do from every Kenyan,” he added.
The Kitui Central MP further noted that the qualifications to be a member of the MCK board are well outlined under Section 8 of the MCK Act.
“I get worried when one who qualifies to be a member is punished,” Mr Makali said adding, “Board members of public entities meet only four times a year and they do not earn a salary and can therefore not be said to be in gainful or permanent employment.”
“It is not fair for this House to take on issues that are malicious and petty. When she was given the position it was gazetted,” Ms Chege said.
“Let’s not get involved in MCK boardroom fights. The committee should avoid this,” she added.
“I have never seen a petty malicious report that was not well thought out like this one,” Mr Sankok said moments before the House dismissed the report.
“Being a member of a board is not gainful employment. How do you punish her for that matter? Was she the one that appointed herself?” he posed.
“If there was any law that was broken then it is the ICT Cabinet Secretary to be punished. I am ashamed to be part of this House because of this committee’s report,” the nominated MP added.
