“Juma’s work is ‘finito’… she should now find other things to do,” vowed Kamama.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 17 – The chairman of Parliament’s Administration and National Security Committee, Asman Kamama, now says they plan to hound Monica Juma out of public service after they rejected her nomination to the position of Secretary to the Cabinet.
Kamama, who spoke informally to journalists after cancelling a press conference on the issue, said Juma’s work at the Interior Ministry had come to an end and the committee was set to hold a meeting with the Public Service Commission to decide her fate next Tuesday.
“The statement by Parliament is telling, people have no confidence in her. At some stage, the President has to nominate somebody else to her position; Juma’s work is ‘finito’… she should now find other things to do,” vowed Kamama.
While reiterating what his fellow Jubilee MPs said regarding the independence of Parliament, Kamama said their decision was final warning that if the President insisted on keeping Juma at the Interior Ministry or even dared to re-nominate her, there would be a standoff.
“We cannot tell the President what to do; he knows what to do when Parliament lacks confidence in an individual,” he added.
The soft spoken legislator stated that although the President had the option of re-nominating Juma, it was highly unlikely that President Uhuru Kenyatta would let the position of Secretary to the Cabinet lie vacant for at least six months.
READ: Committee rejects Juma nomination over ‘inaccessibility’
The position was previously held by Francis Kimemia who was dropped despite being cleared by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) of corruption allegations.
Kamama added that his committee was eager to vet Major General (rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa who was nominated as Interior PS.
On the allegations by Kandara MP Alice Wahome linking Juma and her husband Prof. Peter Kagwanja to a Sh6 billion insurance scheme where the interior PS is reported to have influenced the awarding of the tender to a company associated with the spouse, Kamama said he was not aware and the matter had not come up during the vetting process.
READ: Uhuru ‘deeply disappointed’ with MPs over Juma
Kamama said they will however initiate a probe into the allegations to ensure the tendering and the awarding process was above board.
The National Assembly on Thursday last week delayed the reading of the budget by half an hour as members allied to Juma, tried in vain to save her from the wrath of fellow parliamentarians who were angered by a letter drafted by Juma and sent to the Clerks of the Senate and the National Assembly telling them to warn members against visiting her office for ‘favours’.
READ: MPs reject Uhuru nominee for Secretary to Cabinet
It was on the basis of this letter that she was branded inaccessible, arrogant.
Members voted by acclamation to adopt the report by the Security committee recommending that the House rejects her nomination.
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