MPs reject names of TSC nominees, say process flawed

By Martin Mutua

NAIROBI; KENYA: Parliament has rejected the controversial list of nominees to the Teachers Service Commission after a debate on Thursday evening.

Led by Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo, members who included the parliamentary chairman of the education committee, David Koech, opposed the list of nominees terming it “a very dangerous precedent”.

Mr Koech, while moving the Motion on the report, told the House he had disagreed with the recommendations that led to the adoption of the report because the persons his committee had picked were unqualified.

Reason for ommission

Koech said after interviews, Lydia Nzomo was top with 80.3 per cent, Kiragu Wamagochi second with 73.3 per cent, Simon Kavisi third with 70.1 per cent, Mbaraka Said Twahir was fourth with 69.3 per cent. Ismael Bulo Hassan scored 61 per cent.

However, in the report presented to the committee, Dr Nzomo and Twahir’s names were missing on the list forwarded to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Koech said the information they got was the two were under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission although the committee was never given that report to seek answers and understand the circumstances and reasons the names had been omitted.

“Mr Speaker Sir, my feeling and understanding then was that if those were the reasons for stopping those people, then we would be setting a bad precedent as a House,” he said.

Koech said for those shortlisted for commissioners,  Cleopas Tirop scored 81.4 per cent, Salome Gichura came second with 78.7 per cent while Julian Juan was third with 71.8 per cent.

However, Koech said when the list came to the House, a person who was ranked seventh had made it to the top of the list followed by number five and four.

Koech said he wondered whether there was an allergy for women since they scored highly yet they were rejected.

The puzzle

While opposing, Kilonzo said he had a lot of regard for James Kamunge, the chairman of the panel, but he could not understand how Nzomo’s name, who was ranked first by the panel, was omitted from the list.

“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 that are on going yet  Nzomo does not know about them,” he said. Kilonzo said Parliament was creating a dangerous precedent because Ministers are implicated in scandals when investigations are done, temporarily fired then reinstated. 

He said the same fate befell another qualified woman, Prof Maria Nzomo who was not picked as the chairperson of the Gender Commission on the basis of her tribe although she was ranked first.

“Mr Speaker, if you look at the case of (Prof) Maria Nzomo the letter from the then Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura was that they were dropping her because she is a Kikuyu,” he added. 

 Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo said: “If as a Parliament we pass such a report, we will be a rubber stamp for the Executive. We will have no integrity ourselves because we will not have even done any proper interrogation.