By MARTIN MUTUA
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga must nominate new commissioners to the Teachers Service Commission before Thursday when the Tenth Parliament winds up.
Last Thursday Parliament rejected nominees picked by the House Education Committee chaired by Mosop MP David Koech. The names had been forwarded to Speaker Kenneth Marende by the two principals for approval by the House.
According to the TSC Act recently passed by Parliament, if the names of the nominees picked by the President and PM are rejected by MPs, then it is up to the Speaker to communicate to the President within five days after that decision has been taken.
This now means that Marende has up to tomorrow to communicate that decision to President Kibaki and request him to submit to Parliament fresh names of nominees from amongst those short-listed by the vetting panel led by Dr James Kamunge.
However, the Act is silent on the period the President should take in submitting new names. But it would be in the President’s interest as he prepares to retire in the next three months to leave behind a functional teachers’ institution. Time isn’t on his side since Parliament will stand dissolved next Monday.
Failure by the President to forward the fresh names to the House this week would mean the new TSC will not have a chairperson and commissioners until the next Parliament comes into place after the March 4 elections.
In the event that Parliament rejects a second list of nominees sent by the President to the House then the TSC Act states the whole process of picking new names will have to begin afresh.
While rejecting the list of nominees forwarded by the two principals last Thursday, a majority of members argued merit and gender balance had been ignored and accused the education committee of doing a shoddy job.
The members also said the education sector is a professional area where competence and merit must be enforced otherwise Parliament would be sending the wrong message to children in schools. Curiously, Koech himself went against his committee and disapproved the list of names as he moved it.
Several MPs, including Yatta’s Charles Kilonzo who set the ball rolling, opposed the list terming it a “very dangerous precedent” being set.
Koech while moving the motion told the House he had dissented from the recommendations by his team because the persons his committee had picked were unqualified. “For the purpose of record so that Kenyans understand why I dissented, it is because I felt these people are not qualified,” he said.
Koech said after they carried out their interviews Kenya Institute of Education director Dr Lydia Nzomo emerged tops by scoring 80.3 per cent while Kiragu Wamagochi scored 73.3 per cent, Mr Simon Kavisi (70.1 per cent) while Mbaraka Said Twahir was fourth with 69.3 per cent and Ismael Bulo Hassan got 61 per cent.
However in the report that was presented to committee Dr Nzomo, who is also the Director of the Kenya Institute Education and Twahir, were left out of the list forwarded to the President and PM.
Koech explained the information they got was that the two were under investigation by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, although the committee was never given that report so they address the matter and understand the circumstances and reasons that had led to their exclusion.
“Mr Speaker Sir my feeling and understanding then was that if those were the reasons that somebody was under investigations then we would be setting a bad precedent as House,” he argued.
Koech said Dr Nzomo heads the Kenya Institute of Education that is set to change to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and wondered why she still had this high-profiled job if she was a suspect under investigations.
He further said of those shortlisted for commissioners, Mr Cleopas Tirop who is the principal of Nairobi School and also chairman of Kenya Secondary School Heads Association scored 81.4 per cent, Dr Salome Gichura came second with 78. 7 per cent while Julian Juan was third with 71.8 per cent
However, Koech said, when names came to the House the first name that was read was that of the person who was number seven followed by another who came fourth and one who was fifth.
Koech wondered whether there was an “allergy” towards selecting women to the commission because the number one for the chair Dr Nzomo and the number two for the commissioners Dr Gichura were rejected.
While opposing, Kilonzo said he had a lot of regard for Dr Kamunge, but he could not understand why after the nine panelists rated Dr Nzomo at 84 per cent her name was omitted.
“According to the report they are saying that they could not pick her because there are some cases with the Ethics and Anti Corruption commission which are ongoing, which even Dr Nzomo does not know about,” he added.
Kilonzo argued Parliament was creating a dangerous precedent because ministers in the House when under investigations or prosecution step aside until cleared.
“The same appointing authority which reinstates the ministers is the one who is listening to that story of some investigations going on,” he added.
Kilonzo said the same scenario befell another qualified woman, university lecturer Prof Maria Nzomo who was denied the chair of the National Gender Commission even after she was ranked first, because of her tribe.
“Mr Speaker if you look at the case of Maria Nzomo the letter from the then Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura explained they were dropping her because she is a Kikuyu,” he added.
However Kilonzo said, “this was just an innocent woman who happened to have been a Kamba with a Kikuyu name.”
The legislator said if this was the case then Kenyans must be told not to bother applying for some jobs if they belong to a particular tribe because they will not be picked even after attending an interview and coming first.
Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo Mabona, while opposing the report, said Dr Nzomo was denied the position on the basis of rumours because she was never given a chance to defend herself.
“If as a Parliament we pass such a report we will actually be a rubberstamp for the Executive. We will have no integrity ourselves because we will not have even done any proper interrogation,” she cautioned.
Other MPs who opposed were MPs Elijah Lagat, Ntoitha M’Mithiaru, Lucas Chepkitony, Martin Ogindo, Victor Munyaka, Njoroge Baiya, Joseph Magwanga and John Mututho.
Those who supported were Finance minister Njeru Githae, Aden Duale, Asman Kamama and Sofia Abdi Noor.
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