NGOs headed to court to block Tobiko

BY WAMBUI NDONGA

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null 1/1 Gladwell Otieno and Yash Ghai at the news conference/MUTHONI NJUKI NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 13 - About 10 civil societies have resolved to go to court on Tuesday to block the nomination of Keriako Tobiko as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Led by Gladwell Otieno of the African Centre for Open Governance, the group pointed out that there were numerous corruption allegations levelled against Mr Tobiko that should be investigated before he is appointed. The group further raised the red flag over the voting pattern in the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC), where Mr Tobiko received a 50-50 vote yet got approval. "And it is quite inappropriate for such a result to be reported to the House as a recommendation to approve the nomination. Moreover, the decision by a member of the CIOC to abstain can hardly be considered an approval," she argued. The civil societies, which also presented their petition to Parliament, further demanded that the vetting process for a DPP starts afresh, saying that Mr Tobiko's nomination was unconstitutional. Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) Executive Director Muthoni Wanyeki also observed that the composition of the DPP's recruiting panel was defective as some of the members had close ties to him. "The DPP is the hinge on which our whole criminal justice system turns. If we have someone who is corrupt in office we can forget about independent investigations into corruption crimes or human rights abuses," she said. "It would basically open up the criminal justice system to justice being sold to the highest bidder," she quipped. They further asked Members of Parliament to consider the three judicial nominees separately and not as a batch. Ms Otieno alleged that there was a plot to push for the approval of Mr Tobiko's name in Parliament by presenting the three judicial nominees as a package. "The candidates don't share attributes or experience; they should only be considered on their own merits. Anything else will be illogical so they have to be considered as individuals," she said.   The chairman of the defunct Constitution of Kenya Review Commission Prof Yash Pal Ghai argued that the interviewing panel threw out his concerns surrounding Mr Tobiko without considering them.  He said that he had written two letters of complaint to the panel, within days of its appointment and before it begun any interviews. "In a subsequent occasion where the chair of the Law Society of Kenya was present, I asked him about the letter he just laughed and said we know you and Mr Tobiko have quarrelled in the past and you are just carrying on with that quarrel," he said. Ms Otieno also noted that appointing individuals on the basis of their ethnic ties was retrogressive. She added that performance and integrity records were the only credible tools for appointing individuals. "We are in no way opposed to a Maasai being appointed to the DPP. We are merely opposed to the qualification of this particular individual. We don't believe that the appointment of so flawed a person brings any credit to the Maasai community," she said. Among the graft accusations facing Mr Tobiko is that he facilitated the illegal transfer of land in the Mau. He is also accused of using intermediaries to extort Sh5 million from former local government Permanent Secretary Sammy Kirui. Mr Tobiko vehemently denies both allegations. Cyprian Nyamwamu (National Convention Executive Council), Ndung'u Wainaina (National Centre for Policy and Conflict), Benji Ndolo (Organisation for National Empowerment), Justus Nyang'aya (Amnesty International), Wanjiru Gikonyo (Institute for Social Accountability), Chris Gitahi (International Commission of Jurists, Kenya), Tom Kagwe (KHRC) and Mwangi Waituru Global Call to Action Against Poverty were backed the stand to seek court action. Follow the author at https://twitter.com/wambuindonga

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