MPs reject police team nominees

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FILE | NATION House team on National Security chairman Fred Kapondi (L). MPs have rejected nominees to the National Police Service Commission. 

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, July 31  2012 at  23:30

Members of Parliament have rejected nominees to a commission that will pick new police chiefs and asked President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to prepare a fresh list.

They called on the two to urgently submit the new names of the chairperson and commissioners to the National Police Service Commission so that the country can get a reformed force before the next polls.

The names were first tabled in the House in March, but there has been a delay due to a political tiff between the men at the helm of the coalition government. It is crucial that a reformed force be in place to ensure law and order before the General Election next year given the country’s history of electoral violence.

The principals had submitted the name of Ms Amina Masoud as chairperson and Ms Esther Chui Colombini, Mr Ronald Musengi, Mr James Atema, Mr Muiu Mutia and Ms Mary Awuor, as members.

But the Prime Minister said that they had agreed on Mr Johnston Kavuludi as chair, only for the President’s Office to make changes. 
Parliament noted two “inadequacies” in the President’s list.

“The political angle was that the Office of the Prime Minister averred that there was no proper consultation between the President and the Prime Minister on the names that were presented to the House, while the constitutional dimension revolved around the assertion that none of the persons met the requirement to be appointed as a High Court judge, in accordance with Article 246(2) and 166(2) of the Constitution,” the committee had noted in its report.

As the controversy raged, the committee decided to interview all the nominees and from the documents before the committee, Mr Kavuludi was ranked first with 77 per cent, while Ms Masoud was ranked sixth with 61 per cent among those who had applied for the position of chairperson.

Reject nomination

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Why Ms Masoud was picked, ahead of Jean Kamau, Murshid Mohammed, Eric Kiprono Bor and Hulda Ogoti, all who were ranked ahead of her, is what made the House committee reject her nomination when they made their report to the House.

“…the performance by Ms Amina Masoud during the committee vetting process was not satisfactory. Therefore, the committee concluded that even if she met the requisite minimum requirement, she was not the appropriate candidate for the appointment as the chairperson of the NPSC,” Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi, who is the chairman of the House committee on Administration and National Security, said when he moved the motion in late May.

“The committee further would not conclusively establish why the selection panel could not recommend for nomination one of the lawyers who had been shortlisted and ranked highly during the interview by the panel.”

MPs Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i) and Jakoyo Midiwo (Gem) on Tuesday pushed for the rejection of the list.

Mr Kapondi was a dejected man as his colleagues trashed the report, saying the onus was on the principals to pick the nominees and that the committee could not direct the principals on who to pick.

While Mr Kapondi’s team had rejected Ms Masoud, it had recommended that Ms Kamau, Mr Kavuludi and Mr Mohammed be considered for the chairperson’s job.