The impeachment clause on public office
holders should be interpreted clearly by the Supreme Court, the
Constitution implementation agency has said.
The
clause on what merits gross violation of the Constitution and
misconduct wasn’t included, therefore open to abuse, Constitution
Implementation Commission (CIC) chairman Charles Nyachae said.
Mr
Nyachae, who was speaking in Kisii, said the highest court needed to
interpret the threshold of impeaching political leaders, issuing summons
and removal of public officers.
He said the impeachment threats on governors and Cabinet secretaries had greatly affected development in some counties.
Some leaders, said the chairman, were using the impeachment clause on frivolous grounds.
Mr Nyachae explained that the process of removing leaders and public servants should be fair, objective and predictable.
“There
are laws and institutions tasked with the removal of public officers
and leaders. The institutions should be left to exhaust all mechanisms
before resorting to impeachment.”
The CIC boss said there were loopholes in the clause since it had not established unquestionable standards.
SETTLING SCORES
“Articles
152 and 181 of the Constitution state how a public officer can be
removed, especially over gross violation of the Constitution and
misconduct, but the threshold is not set.”
Mr Nyachae said it was unfortunate that some leaders had been impeached, setting a bad precedent.
“It
is disturbing that some leaders are misusing the process to settle
political scores” said Mr Nyachae stressing that all means should be
used to solve problems instead of rushing to kick out leaders.
He
criticised parliamentary select committees for issuing threats of
summons to public officers and urged members to stop abusing Article
125 of the Constitution in the exercise of their mandate.
He in particular took issue with the committee for Land that summoned him to appear before it in Kwale last Thursday.
He could not show up due to what he termed “unavoidable circumstances.”
Mr
Nyachae said that it was not possible for public officers, who had busy
schedules, to attend all summons and urged Parliament to support them
so that they could deliver.
The chairman said it was demoralising for officers who were victimised for failure to appear before committees.
REACTION
Wanting: Mr
Nyachae says there are loopholes in the clause, since it has failed to
establish unquestionable grounds to kick-start an impeachment.
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