By Martin Mutua
Parliament was turned upside down with President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga
tearing each other apart over the recent judicial nominations by the President.
While Raila made his position known on the floor of the House, Kibaki sent Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka to state his position.
The move arose following a request by Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara to Speaker Kenneth Marende to make a ruling on the matter before the names are tabled for debate.
Raila maintained no consultations were held between him and the President over the nominations and said he was shocked to learn two of the names Kibaki nominated had never featured when they had met on two occasions.
"The process is unconstitutional and needs to be nullified and started afresh," concluded the PM.
Raila said since the VP had read a chronology of events he was himself going to be candid and factual with the House to clear the air on the matter.
Raila said on December 6 and 16 he indeed met with Kibaki together with their aides. Their attention was drawn on the transitional clause 24 on the appointment of the CJ.
Raila said during the meeting on December 16 they decided there must be some kind of procedure on how to pick the CJ, the AG, the DPP and the Controller of Budget.
"We agreed a panel be set up to come up with the names," he said. Members suggested included those from the Office of the President, the PM, law reform commission and the Judicial Service Commission.
Mediation trip
Raila said the panel was supposed to interview applicants for the positions.
The principals never met again until last Thursday, he said. The last week’s meeting agenda were four and that of the appointments was the last in the list, he added.
Raila said he went to Harambee House to brief Kibaki on the drought situation in North Eastern because the region’s parents had petitioned him to have the Government waive school fees for their children and he needed to discuss it with the President.
He also went to brief the President about his mediation trip in Ivory Coast and the President had the agenda of the AU and the shuttle diplomacy to brief him.
"Having dealt with the four issues we then came to the last one, which was on the appointments," he added.
The panel they had mandated to come up with the names never did so and he then suggested to the President that they source a CJ from the commonwealth for a period of three years as they embark on vetting of local judges, he told the Parliament.
The President insisted they can source the same locally.
"At that time there were no names that had been suggested, but the President made some suggestions," said Raila.
Kibaki unleashed the names of Justice Paul Kihara for CJ, Justice Hannah Okwengu for deputy CJ, Fred Ojiambo for AG, Kioko Kilukumi or Kiage for Director of Public Prosecutions, and William Kirwa for Controller of Budget. "I informed the President that I needed to consult," the PM said.
After consultations, Raila returned and suggested lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee for the position of CJ, but when the experts went back to consult they returned and rejected him, saying he was an activist and claimed Justice Kariuki was a reformer.
Raila said since they had disagreed he called for the pecking order at the Court of Appeal and the High Court and suggested if they have to pick from the Bench then they go by seniority.
Personal issue
"I never spoke of Justice Omollo being the CJ. It was provided for by the team of experts when we called for the pecking order," he added.
Raila said at the High Court Justice Msagha Mbogholi was the senior most while Justice Kihara was number 21. The PM said it was then that he was told he should pick an AG of his choice and the President will pick the CJ, a move he protested, saying the matter was not a party or personal issue. "We are picking the CJ of the republic of Kenya not of ODM and AG for Kenya and not PNU," Raila told the House.
Raila said when he went to Addis Ababa he entered a meeting which went late into the evening and that at no time was he informed the President had called him as alleged.
He further noted that when he came out of the meeting he met a team of journalists who asked him whether he had been consulted on the nominations, but he held his breath and refused to comment.
"I am prepared to swear that those two names of Justice Visram and Prof Muigai never featured in any of our talks before I left for Addis," he added.
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