Mystery of Abduba Dida’s double appointment

By GEOFFREY MOSOKU and JAMES MBAKA

Kenya: It is now emerging that President Uhuru Kenyatta and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru made parallel appointments of Abduba Dida as the chairman of the Constituencies Development Fund.

Following the appointed of the same person in two separate Gazette Notices on different dates, questions are arising as to whether there is a communication breakdown in the Jubilee administration.

Queries are also being raised as to whether the President and his Cabinet are getting sound legal advice.

Ms Waiguru appointed Dida on December 27, 2013, through Gazette Notice Vol. CXV-No.181 while the President made the same appointment on December 31, 2013, four days later, through Gazette Notice Vol CXV-183.

The two Gazette notices refer “powers conferred by Section 5 (4) of the CDF Act 2013” in making the appointments.  However, both the President’s and Cabinet Secretary’s appointments were irregular.

Under the CDF Act 2013, it is only the Cabinet Secretary responsible for matters dealing with CDF (Devolution Ministry in this case) who has powers to appoint a chair of the board, but that appointment is restricted as the chair has to come from among members of the CDF Board, who also must have been vetted by Parliament.

The Devolution Secretary has since moved to correct her mistakes and revoked the appointment through Special Gazette Notice Vol. CVX-No.3 of January 3, 2014. The President is yet to rescind his appointment but sources indicate it will be done by Friday.

The notice signed by Waiguru stated: “It is notified for the information to the general public that Gazette Notice No. 15728 of 2013, issued under section 5 (4) of the Constituency Development Fund Act stands revoked.”

Dida’s appointment sparked outrage with MPs accusing President Uhuru of violating the law by appointing him. This is the second time the Jubilee administration has been embarrassed by being forced to withdraw an appointment due to public pressure.

Last year, the President was forced to withdrew the gazettement of former Naivasha MP John Mututho as chairman of the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug and Substance Abuse since he made the appointment unprocedurally.

RUTO’S DEFENCE

Yesterday, Deputy President William Ruto defended the revocation of Dida’s appointment as chairman of the CDF. Ruto said the decision was arrived at after realizing the appointment of the former teacher-turned-politician did not follow due process.

He said the President had revoked the appointment to allow the vetting process by Parliament as required by the law.

“This is not the first time the President has had to revoke an appointment, last year we saw him withdraw the name of Nacada boss John Muthuto and we saw the man who is really passionate about his job get his post after vetting by Parliament,” Mr Ruto said.

The Deputy President revealed that Dida would get the job once all the legal processes are finalised to pave the way for his gazettement.

Nyamira Senator Mong’are Bwo Okong’o and Lugari MP Ayub Savula welcomed the move by the President to revoke the appointment of Dida saying that will allow due process to take its course.

Okong’o challenged Kenyatta to seek wider consultation before making civil service appointments as revocating them was costly and likely to damage his reputation.

“It is important the President has realised he erred in the appointment and has decided to correct it, which is a good gesture, but he should in future receive proper legal advice before making appointments,” Okongo told The Standard.

Savula said Attorney General Githu Muigai had failed in his duty as legal adviser to the government and by extension had embarrassed the President.

He said the President violated the CDF Act, which requires that the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution forward three names to parliament for approval before picking one from the list

 “We are not against anyone taking up positions in government but the law is clear on the procedure of making appointments with regard to chairpersons of parastatals, and that must be followed,” Savula said.

The chairman of the National Assembly’s CDF committee, Moses Lessonet, asked the government to speed up the appointment of the CDF board chairman so as not to affect the disbursement of money to constituencies as the seat is vacant.

“The President appointed Dida and then revoked the appointment of Ms Jennifer Nafula Barasa, meaning the position is currently vacant,” the Eldama Ravine MP said.

The chief executive officer takes over in an acting capacity in the absence of the board chair but cannot approve disbursements to constitution.