Bill to Guide Vetting of State Officials

Written by Ramadhan Rajab/www.allafrica.com

A new Bill to guide the vetting of state officer is in the offing. The drafters of the Bill, the Association of Professional Societies in East Africa, said the will is passed into law will help correct the lapses that have marred previous vetting of individuals to public offices since the passage of the new Constitution.

"What we have been witnessing in the various vetting has been lack of a mechanism to carry out the exercise in line and full tandem with chapter six of the constitution. The processes have been mostly haphazard and this Bill and the policy document we are working on will assist bring uniformity and set benchmarks for vetting of state officers," said Gad Awuonda a Governance Consultant and drafter of the proposed Bill.

For instance, APSEA pointed out, the vetting and appointment of the Director of Public Prosecution had numerous flaws adding that the concerns from the public over the candidate were treated with contempt. "Further panelists showed open bias with some indicating to the candidate that he should ignore public sentiments that tend to attack their suitability," said Grace Injene, APSEA vice chair. "Some witnesses were even intimidated and ridiculed, some being accused by some panelist of harbouring jealously against the nominee. These are among the myriad concerns that left the public wondering whether its manner of conduct is what the constitution intended," she added.

However the proposed Bill seeks to give witness accounts, especially those against a candidate, prominence and give individual witnesses immunity from possible prosecution. Regarding the interviews for appointment of judges that culminated in the appointment of the new judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court including the CJ, the association said the process was not very clear on criteria used to determine successful candidates especially on issues of gender and ethnic balancing.

Gad said the proposed legislation lays emphasis on the adherence of Chapter Six on leadership and integrity where candidates for state offices positions are required to declare their wealth and have their lifestyles audited without compromising on their dignity and privacy. "Durinng the CJ and judges of the Supreme Court grilling, there was a perception that one of the panelist dominated the proceedings and showed open bias. The process at times was unduly hostile, intimidating and disrespectful to candidates. This Bill is out to instill uniformity in terms of questioning and the verdict of the panel," he said.

Apart from ensuring transparency Gad said the guidelines will ensure that the process of vetting is aimed at ascertaining the suitability and should not be a process where political horse trading is the main determinant of decisions reached so as to make Kenyans have faith in the application of the principles of the constitution regarding appointments. "Uniform standards in vetting will help deal with the perception that some of the vetting panels are over enthusiastic and tend to apply too stringent standards while others are too casual and non-transparent like the Atwoli chaired panel that interviewed DPP," Gad said. To make the public participate fully, APSEA said there was need to fully operationalise the freedom of information clause to help easier access to information on individuals hoping to hold public offices

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