House team now wants Uhuru to sack Juma as PS

Politics and policy

Dr Monica Juma. A House committee rejected her nomination as Secretary to the Cabinet. PHOTO | FILE 

By EDWIN MUTAI, emutai@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Asman Kamama says MPs do not want to interact with Monica Juma anymore.
• A total of 163 MPs last week voted against her nomination to the position of Secretary to the Cabinet.

The National Assembly’s Committee on National Security has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to remove Monica Juma as permanent secretary, saying her position in the public service is invalid.

Asman Kamama, the committee chairman, said on Wednesday that Parliament was not in a position to interact with Dr Juma after 163 MPs voted against her nomination to the position of Secretary to the Cabinet.

Dr Juma is currently the Interior and National Co-ordination principal secretary. President Kenyatta has nominated Gordon Kihalangwa to replace her following the shake-up of top public servants.

“The President nominated Maj Gen (Rtd) Kihalangwa to replace Dr Juma as Interior PS. That is the name that we are awaiting from the President for us to vet,” Mr Kamama said.

“As far as we are concerned, the issue of Dr Juma is finito (finished). I don’t think Parliament will be ready to deal with her after the House passed a vote of no confidence in the PS. It is now up to the President to decide what to do with her.”

He warned that there would be a stalemate if Dr Juma remains Interior PS following her rejection by Parliament last Thursday.

While the Constitution allows at least a quarter of MPs to propose a motion requiring the removal of a Cabinet secretary, it is silent on whether the lawmakers can push for an ouster through Parliament.

“It is a political vendetta and the Constitution does not allow them to do that,” Cliff Oduk, an associate at Mumma & Kanjama Advocates said.

“It would be a violation of her rights under the Labour Relations Act, and she can freely move to the Employment and Labour Relations Court if they succeed with the plan to oust her as a PS on the basis that she failed the vetting process for the post of CS.”

The committee rejected Dr Juma’s nomination because of a letter she wrote to the House Clerk complaining about the number of visits and requests MPs made for transfers or employment of State workers.

Mr Kenyatta, whose Jubilee coalition commands a majority in the House, failed to whip up troops to overturn the committee’s recommendation and have Dr Juma approved.

All Jubilee MPs in the committee adopted the report rejecting Dr Juma, prompting a rebuke from Mr Kenyatta.

On Tuesday, 15 Jubilee legislators from central Kenya told Mr Kenyatta to accept the rejection of Dr Juma’s nomination amid talk that he was planning to nominate her again for fresh vetting.

Dr Juma had on October 2014 written to the Parliamentary Service Commission requesting that MPs and senators be informed about the challenge of honouring their employment and transfer requests since it constituted a breach of the civil service code of regulations.