Chapter Six of the Constitution has left a trail of casualties

By KENFREY KIBERENGE

Former Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura are the latest high-profile State officials to vacate office due to the now famous Chapter Six of current Constitution.

The duo is part of the four Kenyans facing crimes against humanity charges at International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands and was forced to leave office due to the much talked-about leadership and integrity threshold as provided for in the new law.

The chapter deals with the integrity of public officials stating that they must, among other issues, act in a manner that brings honour to the nation and dignity and promote public confidence in the integrity of the offices they are holding.

In the recent past, the chapter has claimed Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Tinderet and Kilome counterparts Henry Kosgey and Haroun Mwau respectively.

Suspended Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza (right). She vacated office after a security guard accused her of assault [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, his Permanent Secretary Thuita Mwangi and Assistant Roads Minister Wilfred Machage have been put in the cold, but were later reinstated after being cleared of any wrongdoing.

National Council of Churches of Kenya Deputy Secretary General Oliver Kisaka argues that the chapter captures the interests of Kenyans but warned that politicians will try to water it down.

"If we employ the chapter to the letter we will have good people running our offices but not with the current double standards," charged Kisaka.

Kisaka says MPs may use the window of drafting the Act to operationalise the chapter to water down the intention.

But former Executive Director of the Institute for Education in Democracy Koki Muli argues that although politicians may try to circumvent it, they can only do it for so long.

"Somebody will go to court and the Act will be declared unconstitutional, if it does not capture the intention of the chapter," said Muli, who is a lecturer at South Eastern University College.

Lawyer Wanyiri Kihoro, however, said the notion of stepping aside is not provided under the chapter, saying State officials should learn to resign or have their bosses interdict them.

Ms Baraza is currently fighting for her post as the most senior female judge after a security guard, Rebecca Kerubo, alleged that she had pinched her nose and threatened to shoot her for demanding to frisk her on new year’s eve.

President Kibaki has since suspended her and set up a seven-member tribunal to probe the Deputy CJ, following a petition by the Judicial Service Commission.

Baraza could also be facing criminal charges in a court of law after police forwarded a file to the director of public prosecutions office recommending her prosecution.

Uhuru and Muthaura stepped aside on January 26 after the ICC pre tiral chamber II confirmed crimes against humanity charges against them alongside Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang.

Acquitted by court

Mr Ruto left his Higher Education docket in October 2010 after a court ruled he must stand trial over corruption allegations surrounding the sale of a forestland to Kenya Pipeline Corporation. The Eldoret North MP was, however, acquitted by the court in April last year but was not reinstated due to what many observers felt were differences with Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Like Ruto, Mr Kosgey stepped aside in January last year after he was charged in court with 12 counts of abuse of office brought against him over the importation of over-age cars. The abuse of office charges against the former Industrialisation Minister were suspended until a case challenging the legality of a special prosecutor is determined.

Mr Mwau stepped aside from the Trade Assistant Minister portfolio in December 2010 following investigations into his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Saitoti, later in February last year, returned to Parliament and said there was no evidence adduced to implicate the members in drug trafficking, according to an interim police report. Mwau is yet to be reinstated and when put Raila to task to explain the reasons, no explanation was forthcoming. Mr Wetangula and Mr Mwangi were out of office for 10 months from October 2010, after they faced allegations of misuse of funds in the construction of Kenya’s embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

The duo, however, resumed duties in August last year after a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the now defunct Kenya Anti Corruption Commission, a parliamentary committee, the Auditor General and another team from the Treasury exonerated them, according to Raila. Mr Machage had stepped aside in June 2010 after being charged with hate speech but not as a result of Chapter Six since it had not come into force.