Court orders MPs to preserve damning reports against CSs

The High Court on Friday directed National Assembly to store all the memoranda against Cabinet Secretaries in a case filed to challenge their suitability for office.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued the orders in a case filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) alongside human rights crusader Wanjiru Gikonyo.

KHRC said the committee that vetted the CSs released a report on August 7, 2024, stating 813 memoranda regarding the nominees, submitted both physically and through email.

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Out of these, 656 memoranda were rejected for not being sworn under oath as legally required.

However, the court heard that Kenyans do not know what transpired with the rest of the memoranda.

“Appointing individuals with unresolved integrity issues undermines the principles of Chapter 6, which emphasize ethical conduct and public accountability. The National Assembly and the President should have adhered rigorously to the principles of Chapter 6 during the vetting and appointment process to ensure that only those meeting high standards of integrity and leadership were appointed,” argued lawyer Evans Ogada.

The case before the court is among four others challenging the appointment of the CSs.

In a separate case, President William Ruto was accused of not appointing a gender balanced cabinet.

Human rights groups sued the Attorney General and National Assembly, arguing that 22 Cabinet Secretary nominees should not be appointed for failure to meet gender balance.

The case was filed by the Katiba Institute, the Centre for Rights Education and Accountability (CREAW), the Institute for Social Accountability (TISA), and the World March of Women-Kenya.

The groups claim that for the Cabinet to meet the required threshold, the President should have appointed 66 percent or either men or women.

However, they argued that he had instead appointed 68 per cent men, hence, breached the gender balance law.

The president nominated eight women- Margaret Ndung’u, Soipan Tuya, Debra Mlongo, Alice Wahome, Rebecca Miano, Stella Soi, Beatrice Askul, and Dorcas Oduor (Attorney General) to his new expanded cabinet.

On the other hand, he had Kithure Kindiki, Migos Ogamba, Andrew Mwihia, Aden Duale, Eric Muriithi, John Mbadi, Salim Mvurya, Opiyo Wandai, Davis Chirchir, Kipchumba Murkomen, Hassan Joho, Wycliffe Oparanya, Alfred Mutua and Justin Muturi in the nominees list sent to Parliament for vetting.

The group’s lawyer, Emmy Kinama, said there are 17 men out of 25 persons in the Cabinet, with the Cabinet Prime Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, part of it.

According to her, the National Assembly ought to have returned the list to the sender and or urged him to reconsider the nominees to incorporate more women into the Cabinet.

 The human rights groups also took issue with the president re-appointing nine cabinet secretaries.,

According to her, Ruto went to the public on July 11, 2024, and dismissed the CSs and Attorney General based on public voice, appraisal, and performance.

 Kinama said it is unfair to Kenyans to have Kindiki, Wahome, Soipan, Duale, Chirchir, Miano, Kipchumba, Mutua, and Mvuria back without a public explanation on how and why they were reconsidered in the new list.

She was of the view there ought to have been public participation before any of them was put on the fresh list.

“If the Cabinet Secretaries were dismissed a week or two before they were renominated again, then the reasons for re-nomination could not have changed within the short time, and if it did, the public, which was central in the President deciding to dismiss the Cabinet Secretaries ought to have known the reasons for their re-nomination for approval and reappointment,” she said.