Ababu retains House Legal Affairs position

THURSDAY, 01 DECEMBER 2011 00:04 BY FRANCIS MUREITHI

IN THE HOUSE: DPM Musalia Mudavadi, PM Raila Odinga and VP Kalonzo Musyoka.Photo/File

The powerful House Business Committee has resolved that the troubled Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs will remain as originally constituted and work under the chairmanship of Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba.

HBC, which is chaired by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, said it had decided to maintain the same members. “The decision by the HBC is final, we just need to maintain the status quo,” Kalonzo told Parliament. He said HBC has finally decided to ignore the decision by some PNU MPs to vote out Ababu as the committee’s chair.

The VP said HBC also decided to ignore the decision by ODM to withdraw some of its members after Ababu’s ejection. ODM had withdrawn Ababu, Olago Aluoch (Kisumu Town West) and Millie Odhiambo (Nominated) in protest to PNU’s decision to vote out Ababu as the chair of the committee.

The committee has experienced operational difficulties since February. It has not been able to meet or execute any business with the Speaker referring most of its work to the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee chaired by Mandera Central MP Mohammed Abdikadir.

The VP said both joint Chief Whips, Johnson Muthama from PNU and ODM’s Jakoyo Midiwo proposed maintaining the status quo in the justice committee. Consequently the VP, who is the leader of government business in the House, called on the clerk’s office to facilitate meetings of the committee. Temporary Speaker Gitobu Imanyara directed that the justice committee hold its first meeting last evening.

The committee is supposed to urgently vet the persons nominated as members of the panel that will recruit a new registrar of political parties. The statutory deadline for constituting the panel was November 14 as per the Political Parties Act of 2011. Muthama said the two whips are ready to reconcile the members of the committee and help them iron out any difficulties that may arise.

Other members of the committee are Isaac Ruto, Amina Abdalla Mutava Musyimi, Abdikadir Mohammed, Sofia Abdi, Eugene Wamalwa, Njoroge Baiya and George Nyamweya.