Attorney-General Githu Muigai. The peripheral role played by the
attorney-general in crafting and passing of the security laws has raised
eyebrows, even as opposition to the changes continues in court. FILE
PHOTO |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The peripheral role played by the attorney-general in crafting
and passing of the security laws has raised eyebrows, even as opposition
to the changes continues in court.
When the Security
Laws (Amendment) Bill, which has since been assented to by the
President, was first brought before the National Assembly two-and-a-half
weeks ago, it was apparent AG Githu Muigai, the government’s chief
legal adviser, had been overshadowed by Solicitor-General Njee Muturi,
his junior in the State Law Office.
Sources familiar
with the intrigues said Mr Muturi played a key role in various meetings,
including high-profile ones with the President at State House, and in
lobbying for the passage of the law.
“Njee (Mr
Muturi) was all over Parliament running up and down to ensure the Bill
sailed through,” Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar said.
The
solicitor-general, Mr Omar claimed, had, for all intents and purposes,
eclipsed Prof Muigai to become the legal face of the law in public and
in private.
While the AG sits in the National Assembly,
the solicitor-general does not, but Mr Muturi was within the precincts
of Parliament following the proceedings on TV.
CHARM-OFFENSIVE
And
days before the acrimonious passage of the laws, Mr Muturi was in
charm-offensive mode, granting media interviews on the amendments. To
cap it all, it was the solicitor-general who was standing next to the
President, alongside House Speaker Justin Muturi, Majority Leader Aden
Duale and other officials when the President assented to the law on
December 19.
But the solicitor-general has dismissed
suggestions that he is overshadowing his boss. He told the Sunday Nation
that the formulation and passage of the Bill, now an Act of Parliament,
was a joint effort between the State Law Office and the Parliamentary
Administration and National Security Committee chaired by Turkana East
MP Asman Kamama. He explained that he had only been sent as a
representative of the State Law Office.
“It was a joint
effort with the committee in order to find ways to fight insecurity. We
all do different things. This is a decision we made (with the AG),” Mr
Muturi said. He added: “I was sitting with the committee and he (Prof
Muigai) was attending another meeting.”
Even then, lack
of the AG’s high-profile participation, at least in public, has raised
eyebrows. This is even more so since the passage of the controversial
amendments. Last Wednesday, Mr Muturi appeared in the High Court to
defend the government in a case filed by the opposition Cord against the
security laws.
In such high-profile cases, it is
often the AG himself who appears and, in his absence, Deputy
Solicitor-General Muthoni Kimani or a senior state counsel.
Earlier
that day, it was Mr Muturi, and not Prof Muigai, who accompanied the
Chief of Staff and Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua, Interior
Principal Secretary Monica Juma and Foreign PS Karanja Kibicho in a
meeting in Nairobi to brief diplomats on the law after some,
particularly the US, spoke out against it. For some observers, the
State Law Office, which is under the AG, is experiencing odd
circumstances, with the solicitor-general appearing to overshadow his
boss.
ROLE NOT SURPRISING
According to Ugenya MP David Ochieng (ODM), Mr Muturi’s role is not surprising.
“He
was actually whipping Jubilee MPs and seemed very agitated when Cord
appeared to overwhelm the government side. Not even once did the AG
appear. But one must recognise that Njee has been the President’s
personal assistant so he is more than just a solicitor-general,” said Mr
Ochieng’.
Before his appointment to the position of
solicitor-general last year, Mr Muturi had for long served as President
Kenyatta’s personal assistant and political confidant in Kanu and later
in TNA. He was picked from a shortlist of 16 applicants for the position
to replace Mr Wanjuki Muchemi.
The
solicitor-general’s job description is similar to that of a principal
secretary in a ministry: being the accounting officer at the AG’s
Office. Mr Muturi’s duties include organising, co-coordinating and
managing the administrative and legal functions of the office.
For
lawyer James Mwamu, the solicitor-general has become the face of the
State Law Office. “In my view, Mr Muturi is the substantive
attorney-general. It is becoming apparent that Prof Muigai is rarely
consulted. Rather, the President listens more to the solicitor-general
for legal advice, though the position is not in the constitution,” said
Mr Mwamu.
He said Prof Muigai needs to come out and
state his position on the security laws given that he is the principal
legal adviser to the government. “Mr Muturi has, for long, been at the
forefront, including in the making of some unpopular legal decisions by
the President. It is time Prof Muigai came out and played his
constitutional role,” said Mr Mwamu.
The solicitor-general has traditionally played a behind-the-scenes role with the AG being more prominent.
STAND FIRM
Senator
Omar, a lawyer by profession, agrees with Mr Mwamu that there is more
than meets the eye regarding the true situation at the State Law Office.
“Many people say the President makes reference to Mr
Njee and Mr Abdikadir Mohammed (a presidential adviser on
constitutional and legislative issues). It is partly because the
President and Mr Njee built a relationship outside before they got into
government,” said Mr Omar.
The Mombasa Senator added:
“He (Mr Muturi) acts like the President’s personal assistant who hardly
questions the decisions of his boss. A professional adviser would be
expected to stand firm.”
Prof Muigai could not be
reached for comment. However, an official at the AG’s office, who is
conversant with the goings- on but requested to speak in confidence,
said Prof Muigai is always candid in his advice during private meetings —
sometimes to the dislike of some powerful individuals.
“Outside,
he will defend the government as any public official would be expected
to. But within the government, his views do not sometimes sit easy with
the powers-that-be,” he said.
Being a carry-over from
the Mwai Kibaki administration has also not made things smooth for Prof
Muigai. His role in defending the government at the International
Criminal Court has, however, been appreciated within Jubilee
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