NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9- The nominee for East Africa Community (EAC) Affairs and Regional Development, Beatrice Askul role in the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya selection panel came back to haunt her as the issue became a concern during her vetting for the post.
Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah questioned her strength in decision making if approved in the docket as he queried whether the selection of Martha Karua as Azimio La Umoja Presidential candidate Raila Odinga in 2022 general election was best suited.
Odinga named Karua to her running mate , making her the first woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket.
“Do you think you made the right decision in the selecting of the running mate so we can ascertain your proficiency in the decision making within the docket?” Ichung’wah posed before the National Assembly Committee on Appointment.
Askul stated that the decision of choose Karua as Raila’s running mate was not a decision she made on her own, was done by the running mate selection panel that comprised representative from affiliate parties.
“That was then that I was among the panelist in choosing Raila’s running mate. Sometimes you work things as they appear on the table every part that was there have their representative,” she stated.
“There was no way I would have taken over. We had issues on the table, we agreed on the parameters of someone who would choose as a running mate should be like this and those are the binding grounds which we used to vet,” she stated.
The nominee for EAC Affairs and Regional Development insisted that Karua’s selection as opposed to Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka as Odinga’s running mate was a collective decision guided by certain parameters which were well suited at the time.
“The person we got had what it took because it wasn’t an ODM decision it was all the political leadership that made the decision,” she said.
“I was the only person from ODM and the rest were the other representative of the parties. Whatever happened happened because we had a benchmark. I was right at that time.”
Minority Leader Junet Mohammed revealed before the vetting that he appointed Askul to be part of the selection pane and as a party they are satisfied with the job she did as ODM party.
“I am the one who appointed her to the committee and I was satisfied with her work. She did a fantastic job. Kalonzo was to become a president sometime ahead,” he said.
Questions were raised on the suitability of Karua following the outcome of the polls where President William Ruto emerged victorious in a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court of Kenya.
For instance, in Kirinyaga County Ruto pulled an upset in Odinga’s running mate own polling station through a clear win, with Karua only delivering less than a third of the votes.
Results from Form 34A posted by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) showed that at the Mugumo Primary School in Gichugu Constituency, in central Kenya, where she voted, Ruto garnered 911 votes against Odinga’s 311 votes.
