Rise to the occasion, Marende told on offices

By DAVID OCHAMI
The Civil Society has appealed to Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende to "rise to the occasion" and declare President Kibaki’s contested nominations unconstitutional.
The organisations, including Government’s rights agency, said they were confident that Marende would uphold "national interest" and save "a faltering implementation" of the new Constitution.
They said if the President’s nominations were allowed to hold, other illegal appointments to constitutional offices would be encouraged.
Yesterday, in a statement approved by the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR), the International Commission of Jurists-Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and several other organisations, the four nominees were urged to decline the appointments and "save the country the pain it is going through".
The group told Marende to strike a blow for the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law when he rules on the admissibility of the four names before Parliament today.
Parliament and its committees are torn over the constitutional validity of the four names and the House’s capacity to debate them.
PNU politicians insist the President followed the Constitution in naming the four, while ODM members, the civil society and some Government agencies have denounced the nominations as unconstitutional.
Marende ordered two parliamentary committees to investigate the constitutional dispute engendered by the President’s action and is expected to rule on this too, thus determine if the names or reports containing them do not contravene the Standing Order and are properly before Parliament.
Marende’s indication
Justice Daniel Musinga has declared the nominations unconstitutional and Marende has indicated the ruling may have a bearing on his direction.
The statement read by KNCHR chairperson Florence Jaoko said: "We deplore the President’s irresponsible and reckless action, which threatens to derail the reform process very early in the implementation."
"We appeal to the honourable Speaker Marende, who has shown great stewardship and leadership in matters of national interest, not to let us down at this time when the legitimacy and credibility of the constitutional implementation process is clearly at stake," she added.
The group urged Marende to uphold the logic in Justice Musinga’s ruling.
Jaoko told Kibaki’s supporters and the committees they were bound by Justice Musinga’s ruling.
Haki Focus Executive Director Haroun Ndubi urged the nominees to decline the posts because they "are already tainted" by popular opposition to their nomination.
Mr Ndubi said there should be no haste in appointing a new chief justice after Justice Evan Gicheru’s term ends on February 27 because the post can be held by an acting Chief Justice pending the resolution of the current crisis.
The statement was also approved by the National Constitution Executive Council and African Centre for Open Governance.
Others were International Centre for Transitional Justice, Transparency International and the International Centre for Policy and Conflict.