OK, so Kibaki went ahead and reappointed Ringera for a further 5 years, seemingly with no reference to anybody..not even the KACC Advisory Committee.
Now by all accounts, he is technically within his rights as president to do so. As I understand the current law, the KACC Advisory Board and parliament are only required to vet NEW appointments. It is not mandatory for there to be a vetting process for contract renewals.
Firstly; I find that a fairly sloppy piece of legislation. I'm no lawyer, but I equate writing laws to agreeing contracts. I have come to learn over the years that even though you may be on the best of terms with the other party, when you are drafting a contract ALWAYS take every possibility into consideration. NEVER rely on the goodwill of the other party. You never know what may happen in future. By drafting and passing a law that necessitates consultations for appointments but not for reappointments, parliament dropped the ball big time.
Secondly; and I believe far more importantly, the KACC is an organisation that needs to be seen to be credible. It is an organisation that needs to be seen to have procedures that are totally above board. It is in this respect that I feel the president has erred (as he did with the Electoral Commission appointments pre-election). By reappointing Ringera in the manner he has done, the president has eroded any credibility that KACC (and by extension the GoK fight against corruption) may have earned/regained from a more consultative appointment process. Kenyans had pretty much lost all hope in the KACC delivering under Ringera. By reappointing Ringera "because I can", the president has now made himself out to be somebody who condones corruption and is not in the least bit sincere about his oft stated "zero tolerance to corruption" policy.
As he did with the ECK, the president has effectively stripped yet another institution of any hope, faith, trust or confidence that the Kenyan public may have had in it.
As we saw with the post election violence, institutions that lack credibility can be a ticking time bomb and can easily be used by mischievous and devious individuals to cause chaos.
Kibaki has once again shown us that he does indeed wield all the power, but I fear he has chosen short term gain over long term benefit.
People talk of corruption but i think Ringera being the head of Anti Corruption Authority is the biggest form of silent corruption of all time. I mean, the guy earns millions for nothing at all, basically to protect the thieves..President and his cronies. I agree, Kibaki has done the same mistake he did with ECK and we all know where that one ended. This could be another time bomb
ReplyDeleteIn most prospering countries there are well functioning institutions that provide a sense of efficiency, stability and protection. They are meant to lower incidences of self-interest of individuals or interest groups...here in Kenya HOWEVER, we clearly rely on personalities, who offer none of the above!
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