Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
8 January 2009
Nairobi — All 38 staff of the disbanded Electoral Commission of Kenya appointed by Head of the Public Service Francis Muthaura to manage its restructuring have been removed, the Nairobi Star has established.
Last week Prime Minister Raila Odinga complained that Muthaura had appointed the new team without consultation and ordered the ECK offices to remain closed. The transition team ignored Raila and continued to operate out of the ECK offices at Anniversary Towers.
Muthaura's move had threatened to cause an irreparable breach in the 10 month old coalition government as ODM politicians feared that the ECK could remain compromised up to the 2012 election.
Yesterday the ODM held an emergency meeting and set up a committee to re-evaluate their position in the coalition.
Only three members of the 38 person transition team attached to be retained are the Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndungu, her secretary and a cleaner cum messenger.
"The transition team will take charge of the operations of the defunct ECK until the Interim Independent Electoral Commission is put in place. The process of winding up the defunct ECK as well as manning the transition to the IIEC is being handled prudently and in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act 2008," states one of the documents in the possession of the Nairobi Star.
The 35 remaining employees including former ECK Secretary Suleiman Chege were told to leave the offices on Tuesday.
Chege was in charge of national tallying centre at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in December 2007 and, along with the IT manager Ayub Imbira, has been accused of mismanaging the contentious presidential election.
The ODM considered the two men to be impediments to the proposed reform of the ECK.
The removal of the staff has opened room for consultation and a fresh list of people to replace them is currently being compiled.
Raila has been complaining that he was not consulted before Muthaura appointed the transition team. The PM has suggested that a joint transition team be set up by the two coalition partners PNU and ODM to manage ECK affairs until the Independent Interim Electoral Commission is set up.
Yesterday Nairobi Star established that the government had sent in a former diplomat and career civil servant David Mutemi from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to stand in for the executive at the ECK Anniversary Towers offices until the estbalishment of the transition team.
Mutemi is a former Kenya ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK), Pakistan and Nigeria and has also served as a District Commissioner in Kiambu. He took up his new office last Friday.
The new team is charged with the responsibility of the managing the ECK records, assests, liabilities, undertake clearance of the former ECK staff and Commissioners as well as paying their terminal benefits.
The new team will also re-deploy former ECK staff to the Public Service Commission, undertake verication of all finances and accounts at the ECK headquarters and district offices as well as monitor any cases that might be filed against the defunct ECK.
On Monday, Public service Permanent Secretary Titus Ndambuki told Mutemi that an executive decision had been taken to disband the Transition team set up by Muthaura and that only Mutemi and two others would remain at ECK headquarters.
Mutemi then summoned a mid morning meeting on Tuesday during which he informed the team led by Chege that they had to go home. Chege and his team left the Anniversary towers building the same day.
Mutemi has taken charge and is now the one sitting in the Commission secretary's office. The career diplomat will have a tough role in ensuring petitions and other operations of the commission can continued uninterrupted and that an updated record of assets and other equipment is maintained ahead of the transfer to the envisaged Independent Interim Commission.
Among his first actions has been calling in officials from the Finance Ministry who have since been looking at records at the commission accounts office.
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