NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 13 – Former Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Vice-Chairperson Irene Keino was on Tuesday put to task over her controversial resignation from the anti-graft agency in 2015 hours after members of a tribunal appointed to investigate her were sworn in.
Keino is among 36 candidates who are eyeing the IEBC commissioner post whose seats fell vacant when four commissioners resigned in 2017.
Appearing before a seven-member selection panel, Keino cited loss of public confidence as the reason she had to leave the agency.
“I was guided by the Constitution and the Law, a body needs to have confidence and by the time I was leaving, the public confidence had been eroded, I, therefore, decided to resign,” she said.
Keino distanced herself from reports that linked her resignation to a parliamentary report that found ethical consideration for her removal from office alongside then EACC Chairperson Mumo Matemo.
“My understanding is that the removal was not exercised,” Keino said.
She resigned barely a month after Parliament passed a motion to eject her and less than 24 hours after the president formed a tribunal led by Justice Jonathan Bowen Havelock to look into their conduct.
Responding to the concern of her suitability to hold office despite the ethical irregularities, Keino noted that all avenues ought to be exhausted before ruling out her suitability for appointment.
“I think that all avenues and appeals have to be exhausted for all fairness,” she told the panel.
Keino said it was no longer tenable to continue serving at EACC without the full confidence of stakeholders.
Initially, she had linked the efforts to force EACC commissioners to resign to the Anglo Leasing cases and investigations on the Sh8 billion Karen land grab suit.
Other cases she mentioned include the Mumias Sugar case, the Geothermal Development Corporation case and matters relating to the EACC head office, Integrity Centre, and its relationship with the Deposit Protection Fund Board.
About The Author
