NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 17 – The Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee Ababu Namwamba finally tabled in Parliament a \’twin report\’ on the controversial nomination of the Chief Justice, Attorney General, and the Director of Public Prosecutions on Thursday afternoon.
The report comprised of a majority view that hold that the appointments were done procedurally while the minority view has recommended that the nomination process be done afresh.
The majority view which formed the main committee recommendations have concluded that the process of nomination of the Chief Justice was constitutional and in accordance with Section 24(2) and Section 29 of the Sixth Schedule.
“However, given the importance of the head of a newly reformed Judiciary, we recommend the re-processing of this nomination through the Judicial Service Commission,” the report said.
The committee said the process of nomination for the office of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions was constitutional and the nominees should now proceed for vetting.
“From the foregoing, the nominees for the offices of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions do proceed for vetting immediately,” said the report.
However the dissenting views understood to be the minority group from ODM felt that the process of nominations to the offices of Chief Justice, Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions ‘severally and collectively, fail the tests of constitutionality, legitimacy and credibility.’
“They should accordingly be referred back to the two Principals and the process be conducted afresh in accordance with the Constitution,” read their recommendations.
“Given the need for stability in government and country, and the importance of consultation in ensuring this, a precise constitutional threshold of what entails “consultation” should be developed and adopted, alongside structured guidelines to manage the process of in the coalition Government.”
While tabling the report Committee Chairman said: “After surmounting the mountain and the valleys and the millions of hurdles it is my pleasure to table the report on the nominations with all accompanying annexes and documents.”
Speaker Kenneth Marende was expected to issue a ruling later on Thursday whether the House will continue and debate the report amidst a court ruling that has declared the nominations unconstitutional.
The committee has been divided over whether the nominations were done legally and has missed three deadlines for submitting their report.
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