President William Ruto’s Cabinet nominees are walking a tightrope with at least 20 petitions and hundreds of memoranda submitted challenging their suitability for office, setting the stage for a major battle during their vetting.
The 20 nominees, who will face MPs between Thursday and Sunday this week, are set to face tough questions regarding their suitability with civil society groups leading the charge in challenging their nominations.
The four-day vetting exercise will be keenly watched by the public as the President races against time to set up a new-look Cabinet as part of his pledge to form a broad-based government.
The re-organisation of the Cabinet was one of the many concessions made by President Ruto alongside the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024 following deadly protests by young people.
The vetting will be conducted by the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments that is chaired by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula .
Last week, the National Assembly asked the public to submit their memoranda regarding the nominees ahead of the vetting process.
The development followed the referral of the names of the nominees to the committee by Mr Wetang’ula.
A notice by National Assembly Clerk Samuel Njoroge on Wednesday last week gave Kenyans until July 31, 2024 to make their submissions.
The committee members include Gladys Boss (the vice chairperson), Dido Raso, Gitonga Murugara, David Gikaria, Ferdinard Wanyonyi, Mary Emaase, Dawood Rahim, Kimani Ichung’wah, Owen Baya, Robert Mbui, and Rahab Mukami.
Others are Caleb Amisi, Stephen Mule, Junet Mohamed, Nelson Koech, Omar Shurie, Naisula Lesuuda, David Pkosing and Mishi Mboko.
The committee has been holding briefings over the avalanche of memoranda with another one set for today ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.
Mr Njoroge was vague when asked about the nominee with the highest number of memoranda challenging his or her suitability, saying, they are still sorting out the documents.
“We have not analysed the documents in terms of the nominees. We will do that today and tomorrow,” said Mr Njoroge, adding that he does not have the exact number of memoranda received so far as they continue trickling in.
One such petition is by Bunge la Mayuts Kenya, a group led by lawyer Nerima Were, which is pushing for MPs to reject 14 nominees for failing the test on leadership and integrity as espoused under Chapter Six of the Constitution.
The 14 include 11 former CSs re-nominated by the President — Salim Mvurya (Trade), Kithure Kindiki (Interior), Alice Wahome (Lands), Soipan Tuya (Defence), Aden Duale (Environment), Davis Chirchir (Roads and Transport), Alfred Mutua (Labour), Rebecca Miano (Tourism), Justin Muturi (Public Service) and Kipchumba Murkomen (Youth and Sports). Also on the list are four other nominees picked by Dr Ruto from former premier Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party — Opiyo Wandayi (Energy), Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs), John Mbadi (National Treasury and Economic Planning), and Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy).
The petition borrows from agitation by the youth, particularly the Gen Z, for President Ruto to institute sweeping reforms in the Kenya Kwanza government where the firing of the ministers was part of the demands. Ms Were argues that the former CSs should not have been nominated as they were fired on account of non-performance.
“The President determined that those persons could no longer be accountable, individually and collectively, for the exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions, hence their dismissal,” she says.
There are also court petitions revolving around the legality of the appointments and track records of the nominees. Already, two lawsuits have been filed challenging the nomination of some of the individuals and are expected to be heard today in Nairobi and Malindi High Courts.
Mr Oparanya, for instance, is being investigated for allegedly embezzling over Sh1.3 billion from Kakamega during his tenure as the county chief.
In November last year, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) obtained orders to freeze assets worth Sh28.9 million belonging to Mr Oparanya over his alleged involvement in the Sh1.3 billion graft investigation.
The troubles facing the ODM deputy party leader related to his two-term tenure as Kakamega governor with accusations of misappropriation of public funds through proxies and associates. In February, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) gave the go-ahead for the prosecution of Mr Oparanya over allegations of conflict of interest and receiving a benefit in the purchase of a property owned by him, which the EACC claims was brought through corrupt means.
The anti-graft agency wanted Mr Oparanya charged with abuse of office and 11 counts of conflict of interest contrary to Section 42(3) read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
However, the former governor obtained an injunction against his arrest and prosecution until a petition he filed in court is determined.
Mr Joho is also facing challenges after two activists filed petitions with the vetting committee citing cases where he is being investigated over graft related matters. The petitions facing the former Mombasa governor are by Genesis for Human Rights Commission and People’s Movement for Human Rights.
The two petitioners want the committee to find the former governor unfit to hold public office. Lawyer Saitabao Ole Kanchory, one of Mr Odinga’s chief agents in the August 2022 presidential election, has also filed a petition in a Malindi court challenging the nomination of 14 of the ministers.
Mr Kanchory argues that the move violates the Constitution and is an affront to multiparty democracy. He says a minister should not hold office in a political party or be an MP as a CS is an appointed State officer.
The latter point is directed to ODM nominees who are either deputy party leaders, in the case of Joho and Oparanya, and Wandayi, who is both a minority leader in the National Assembly as well as ODM’s director of political affairs, while Mr Mbadi is ODM chairperson.
