Kibaki meets allies over judiciary nominations row

President Kibaki held a meeting with his close allies Tuesday morning to discuss the controversy surrounding the nominations to key constitutional offices.

The President who has been out of the country attending the African Union’s meeting in Addis Ababa as the debate on the nominees raged met Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ministers Kiraitu Murungi, Prof Sam Ongeri and Yusuf Haji at his Harambee House office where he reportedly briefed them on the controversy.

The president is said to have told the group that he had held extensive consultations with Prime Minister Raila Odinga before making public the names of nominees to the posts of Chief Justice, Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions and Controller of Budget.

“I have personally met the President this morning and he has confirmed to me that he did hold extensive consultations with the Prime Minister,” Mr Musyoka told journalists after chairing a Party of National Unity (PNU) Parliamentary group meeting at KICC soon after the Harambee House talks.

“This is a credibility issue about who is telling the truth between the President and the Prime Minister,” the VP added.

Spirit

MPs who attended the PG meeting, numbering about fifty, insisted that the president acted within the spirit of the new constitution by “consulting” the PM and it did not matter whether the latter was happy with the nominees or not.

“Consultation by H.E the President with the Prime Minister is mandatory. The president, as is common practice in presidential systems the world over, originates the names of the nominees, then proceeds, according to the Kenyan constitution to consult with the Prime Minister regarding the nominees,” read a statement released by the PG meeting titled “The constitutional proof that president Mwai Kibaki is right.”

“Consultation cannot mean the Prime Minister must concur or approve or consent, otherwise in Article 259(11) the language of consultation would have been excluded and replaced with only the language of approval or consent,” the statement added.

Notably absent from the PG meeting was Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo who has criticised the list of the nominees.

Alluding to the morning meeting with President Kibaki, Mr Murungi maintained that they had been fully briefed that “detailed” consultations did take place between the two principals regarding the list of the nominees.

Speaking separately, Mr Murungi and Nairobi Metropolitan minister Njeru Githae maintained that it was not mandatory that the PM consents to the President’s nominees. “Consultations do not mean consensus or approval,” Mr Murungi stated. He accused the Judicial Service Commission of misleading Kenyans by demanding that the list be withdrawn because it is unprocedural.

“The statement by the Judicial Service Commission is both self serving and misleading and we are surprised that the Attorney General appended his signature to it,” Mr Murungi added.

The MPs who attended the PG are said to have vowed to mobilise their parliamentary colleagues both within PNU and outside to ensure Parliament approved the President’s nominees.

“We are not relenting, let is fight it out in Parliament. We will whitewash them,” said one MP who attended the meeting.

But Kimilili MP Dr Eseli Simiyu, whose Ford Kenya party is affiliated to PNU boycotted the meeting, saying he would not be used to “rubberstamp” a wrong decision.

“The list lacks regional balance, we cannot be used to rubber-stamp a wrong decision so I will not attend,” said Dr Simiyu.

The president’s list comprising court of appeal judge Alnashir Visram as the proposed Chief Justice, lawyers Githu Muigai and Kioko Kilukumi as the proposed AG and DPP respectively and William Kirwa as the proposed Controller of Budget was forwarded to Parliament on Monday evening.

Lands Minister James Orengo confirmed that the PM had also forwarded a letter to speaker Kenneth Marende stating that he was not consulted over the nominees.

“The letter was forwarded last evening but it could have reached him this morning,” Mr Orengo told Nation.