In Summary
- MPs in heated exchange amid allegations that vetting team was involved in cover-up to shield Tourism Secretary
- MPs also discuss a report they were yet to read because copies had not been provided after Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito tabled it
- The report presented to the MPs did not contain minutes of their meetings as is the custom and Minority MPs suggested this was part of a cover-up
The National Assembly on Tuesday cleared President Kenyatta’s 16-member Cabinet for appointment in a session overshadowed by a fight over Mrs Phyllis Chepkosgey Kandie.
Parliament’s
committee on appointments rejected her nomination, describing her as
unsuitable for the position of Cabinet Secretary for East African
Affairs, Tourism and Commerce.
Her appointment became the subject of an acrimonious debate that lasted the better part of the afternoon session.
MPs
were divided along party lines, with Jubilee members of the Committee
on Appointments changing the positions they took collectively at its
meetings.
Members of the committee from the Minority
accused their counterparts of hypocrisy as they unsuccessfully tried to
stop them from changing the report.
The plot to have
Mrs Kandie’s nomination approved was hatched at a Jubilee Parliamentary
Group meeting at the Sarova Panafric Hotel earlier in the day where the
MPs were told how they would overturn the recommendation on Mrs Kandie.
At
the end of the one-and-a-half-hour meeting chaired by Majority Leader
Aden Duale, it was decided that the report would be changed and Jubilee
would use its numbers in the House to push the list through.
Mrs
Kandie was rejected by the committee despite the fact that the Jubilee
Coalition enjoys a comfortable majority as it has 16 MPs on the
28-member team.
The job to initiate the amendment to
the committee’s report on the floor of the House was given to Nairobi
Women Representative Rachel Shebesh.
Qualified candidate
Ms
Shebesh argued that Mrs Kandie was a qualified and that from watching
the committee’s hearings live on TV last week, it was obvious that the
team chaired by the Speaker did not like the nominee.
As
a Bachelor of Commerce graduate, a holder of a Masters degree in
Business Administration and an investment banker for 15 years, Mrs
Kandie was qualified to be a Cabinet secretary, Ms Shebesh said.
“She probably wasn’t sitting upright as they would have wanted,” Ms Shebesh said.
Her
presentation was interrupted by Deputy Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo
who said his colleagues in the House should have had a better
explanation of the reasons for rejecting Mrs Kandie than that given by
Majority Leader Aden Duale.
MPs were also discussing a
report they were yet to read because copies had not been provided after
Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito tabled it.
Reports are
normally tabled in the House several days before they are debated but
this was not possible on Tuesday because it was the last day for
Parliament to finish its vetting.
Mr Duale’s
presentation when he got the first chance to contribute was also weak,
perhaps because Jubilee had agreed to recommend Mrs Kandie’s
appointment, and he made a point to stress that MPs have a right to
amend the report.
The committee members were accused of seeking to withhold allegations that had been levelled against Mrs Kandie.
The report presented to the MPs did not contain minutes of their
meetings as is the custom and Minority MPs suggested this was part of a
cover-up.
Budalang’i’s Ababu Namwamba questioned why
the committee failed to give a verdict on allegations made against the
nominee that appeared to go against Article Six of the Constitution on
leadership and integrity.
“When you are undertaking an
exercise like this, you must provide all the details that can help in
decision-making. This is absolutely diabolical for the committee to
choose to deliberately withhold information,” said Mr Namwamba.
According to the report, the suitability of six other nominees was contested.
They
were Prof Jacob Kaimenyi, the nominee for Education, Science &
Technology, Ms Charity Ngilu (Land, Housing and Urban Development), Dr
Fred Matiang’i (Information, Communication and Technology), Mr Davis
Chirchir (Energy) and Mr Najib Balala (Mining). (READ: Disquiet over Uhuru-Ruto Cabinet line-up)
However, when it was time to vote, all the nominees were cleared by acclamation.
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