President Mwai Kibaki, in consultation with Prime Minister Raila Odinga appointed Matemu and two other commissioners to lead the fight against graft in the country/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11 – Mumo Matemu has finally been appointed the chairman of the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission.
President Mwai Kibaki, in consultation with Prime Minister Raila Odinga appointed Matemu and two other commissioners to lead the fight against graft in the country.
“In a gazette notice, the president also appointed Jane Kerubo Onsongo and Irene Cheptoo Keino as members of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission,” said a brief statement from the Presidential Press Service.
Matemu who will spearhead the agency charged with fighting corruption however had to overcome allegations of impropriety during his term as commissioner at the Kenya Revenue Authority but sailed through Parliament after heated debate on Thursday.
The names were reintroduced to Parliament after an earlier standoff after the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs in December rejected the nominees.
At the time, the committee presented a report to the House saying the three lacked the “passion” to fight graft.
However, the committee’s report was rejected by Parliament, throwing the nominations in limbo.
House Speaker Kenneth Marende then ruled that the three nominees would be subjected to a new vote in Parliament.
The Speaker made the ruling after MPs raised concerns over a ballot cast by Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim resolving a tie on the vote.
Matemu is a former commissioner with the Kenya Revenue Authority. Onsongo was lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and served in the defunct KACC, while Keino was an estate manager with the National Cereals and Produce Board.
During Thursday’s debate, Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale and Bonchari’s Charles Onyancha attempted to amend the Motion and omit Matemu’s name pending clearance over accusations stemming back to his days at the revenue authority.
However the attempt was opposed by Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament Amos Kimunya who accused Khalwale of misleading the House of the accusations.
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