Dr Mutua defiantly
appoints has cabinet
By Martin Masai
GOVERNOR Alfred Mutua today appointed the remaining seven members of his cabinet without the approval of the Machakos County Assembly
Those appointed include Ms. Evelyne Kavuu Mutie - Energy, Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Eng. Morris Omuyoma Aluanga - Roads, Transport and Public Works. Mr. Titus Nzeki Matiku Kavila - County Administration and Decentralized Units,Mr. Francis Kiio Mwaka - Trade, Industrialization and Innovation,Mr. Kimeu Mbithi Kimeu - Public Service, Quality Management and ICT. Mr. Urbanus Musyoka Wambua - Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperative Development, and Mr. Lazarus Kivuva - Education, Skills Training and Social Welfare.
They will join Deputy Governor Engineer Francis Maliti(Finance), Mrs Naomi Mutie(Water) and Ruth Mutua( Health) Faith Wathome(Tourism). |
Governor Mutua and his Deputy Eng. Francis Maliti
when he announced his cabinet today
|
Those appointed include Ms. Evelyne Kavuu Mutie - Energy, Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Eng. Morris Omuyoma Aluanga - Roads, Transport and Public Works. Mr. Titus Nzeki Matiku Kavila - County Administration and Decentralized Units,Mr. Francis Kiio Mwaka - Trade, Industrialization and Innovation,Mr. Kimeu Mbithi Kimeu - Public Service, Quality Management and ICT. Mr. Urbanus Musyoka Wambua - Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperative Development, and Mr. Lazarus Kivuva - Education, Skills Training and Social Welfare.
A good number of the new appointees have been serving officers in Dr Mutua's first government.For instance, Engineer Aluanga, a former Machakos Town Engineer served as a Chief Officer while Mr Mwaka served as County Secretary.
The governor;s action is the newest twist in the drama of appointments as the County Assembly flexed his muscles with the executive, citing their authority to approve certain appointments. The governor is bracing for a long fight with the Wiper dominated assembly that has vowed to trim to size his minority government.
The assembly had voted on Thursday defer debate and vote over the appointees after the Supreme Court renders its verdict on the fate of Dr Mutua's appeal following Court of Appeals annulment of his election. It seems that the lawmakers, in deferring the vote, had forgotten the timelines set for such approvals. The same day they postponed debate and vote, the Assembly send packing Francis Ngunga, the Assembly Majority Leader who had shifted his alliance to Dr Mutua.
As he announced his cabinet Dr Mutua gave a long background of the appointments drama. The following is the entire statement:
". After my re-election, I nominated an initial 5 Ministers and submitted them for vetting by the County Assembly. The Assembly rejected all the five nominees on grounds which, many believe, were largely influenced by political biases than the legal requirements for vetting.
After the above events, I held a series of consultations with the Assembly leadership, I implored upon them on the need to set Government structures so as to accelerate development for the sake of Mwananchi.
These consultations led to me appointing three Ministers from my outgoing Cabinet and nominating seven others for vetting by the Assembly,
In accordance with Article 179 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and Section 30 (2) (d), (e), of the County Governments Act, 2012 I submitted the names of the seven nominees, the portfolios to which I had nominated them and their curriculum vitaes to the Assembly for vetting on 17th May, 2018.
The list was committed to the County Assembly through communication by the Speaker on 21st May, 2018.
As required under the law, the Assembly Appointment Committee notified members of the public of the nominations and invited them to make any representations regarding the suitability or otherwise of the nominees through a newspaper advert on 25th May, 2018. Through the same advertisement, the nominees were also notified of the dates and place of their vetting hearings. Subsequently, all the nominees appeared before the Appointments Committee for their vetting at different dates starting from 11th June, 2018.
After the vetting process, the Appointments Committee tabled its report to the County Assembly on 18th July, 2018.Debate on the report was however interrupted by a motion seeking stoppage of the discussion of the report. The said motion was eventually put to vote where a majority of the members voted in its favour.
It therefore follows, by failure to discuss the report, that the Assembly NEITHER APPROVED NOR REJECTED any of the nominees as required by the Public Appointments (County Assemblies) Approval Act.
WAY FORWARD
Section 9 of the Public Appointments (County Assemblies Approval) Act provides as follows: Section 9: Period for Consideration and Report
1) Unless otherwise provided in any law, a Committee shall consider a nomination and table its report in the County Assembly for debate and decision within twenty-one sitting days from the date on which the committee first sits to consider nomination.
2) At the conclusion of an approval hearing, the committee shall prepare its report on the suitability of the candidate to be appointed to the office to which the candidate has been nominated and shall include in the report such recommendations as the Committee may consider necessary, including a recommendation on whether or not the nominee should be approved for appointment to public office.
15. Further Section 9 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act provides as follows: Section 9: Failure of Parliament to act on nomination If, after expiry of the period for consideration specified in section 8, Parliament has neither approved nor rejected a nomination of a candidate, the candidate shall be deemed to have been approved.
16. A clear computation of time, from the Assembly sittings as captured in the Hansard Reports, from the dates highlighted earlier, shows that the Vetting process including debate and decision by the County, has taken well over 21 sitting days, against the provisions of Section 9 of the Public Appointments (County Assemblies Approval) Act, which is the equivalent of Section 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act
17. In exercise of the powers conferred to me as Governor of Machakos County by Article 179(2)b as read together with Section 30 2 (d), (e) and 35 of the County Governments Act, 2012, I appoint the following to be Members of the Machakos County Executive Committee in the portfolios specified against their names.
18. This decision is made in the best interest of the people of Machakos and in upholding the Constitution and rule of law which I swore to protect and abide with, at all times in the exercise of my duties as Governor."
