Speaker Muturi rules out House probe of Auditor-General

Embattled Auditor-General Edward Ouko. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By EDWIN MUTAI

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Summary

• House Speaker Justin Muturi ruled that the House will obey the order but has filed an appeal against the ruling.
• Parliament is probing Mr Ouko following a petition by Mwagonah pushing for his ouster on abuse of office claims, procurement breaches and ignoring merit while hiring. Mr Ouko went to court to stop the probe

Embattled Auditor-General Edward Ouko on Tuesday got a reprieve after the National Assembly obeyed a High Court order stopping the Finance committee from proceeding to hear a petition seeking his removal from office.

Speaker Justin Muturi ruled that the House will obey the order but has filed an appeal against the ruling.

“I have since instructed our advocates to appeal against the court’s decision to injunct the House as this is the avenue available in law to express disagreement with judicial findings and also to give the court an opportunity to hierarchically express itself on the question of separation of powers with finality,” Mr Muturi said in communication to the House.

He said of the notice of appeal filed in the High Court on March 17 and in the Court of Appeal on March 20.

“In respecting the court orders, the departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade continues with its suspension of the investigation of the specific grounds alleged by Mr Emmanuel Mwagonah in his petition to the National Assembly seeking the removal of Mr Edward Ouko from the Office of the Auditor-General,” he ruled.

The committee is probing Mr Ouko following a petition by Mwagonah pushing for his ouster on abuse of office claims, procurement breaches and ignoring merit while hiring. Mr Ouko went to court to stop the probe.

The auditor-general’s office is accused of spending Sh100 million on software called Audit Vault said to cost Sh18 million.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) says the millions stolen found their way back to the staff including Mr Ouko’s deputy Mr Stephen Kinuthia. EACC did not trace any of the money stolen in the deal to Mr Ouko.

The name of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Chief of Staff Joseph Kinyua was mentioned in an alleged plot to hound Mr Ouko out of office.

Mr Ouko had questioned why he was not invited to a meeting between the National Assembly’s Finance and Trade Committee and Mr Kinyua.