Photo courtesy of www.the-star.co.ke
In Attempting To Impeach Hon. Sicily Kariuki, Our Minister for Health, Our Parliament Went To The Gutter
By Donald Kipkorir
Hon. Sicily Kariuki has hardly been in office for three months, and some MPs idle and suffering from irrational exuberance wanted to impeach her. It was the lowest point of our Parliament.
Parliament’s main and exclusive responsibility is to make laws. The other important one is protecting the public wealth, security and heritage through oversight responsibility. The Auditor General has been publishing every week how we have lost and continue losing Billions in Corruption and open theft. I have not seen any MP calling for the Reports to be implemented or calling signatures to impeach the culprits. Neither have I seen any MP calling for a Commission Of Inquiry on the nefarious and treasonable acts of Cambridge Analytica.
Impeachment is the highest responsibility of Parliament that is exercised only in the rarest of moments. It is used to remove the President or Members of the Cabinet for High Crimes. Dismissal of a CEO by a Minister can’t be a High Crime. High Crime is such offense that is akin to murder or taking bribes or betraying our Country to foreigners …. State Capture in South Africa by Gupta Btothers is a classic example of High Crime by the President and other culpable Ministers.
To append your signature to an Impeachment Motion is a cognitive and not emotive issue. One must understand the allegations and the evidence before signing the Motion. That 170 MPs signed the Impeachment Motion while cavorting in Mombasa Discos is a Constitutional travesty. It is a tragic turn in our Parliament.
Our Constitution donates all Executive Power to the President on behalf of all. The President is then empowered to delegate the Power to his Cabinet. As the Sole Executive Authority, the President can employ and sack anyone without consultation unless the office has security of tenure. Mutatis Mutandis, Ministers who have been delegated such power, can do the same on behalf the President.
That MPs can want to remove a Minister for removing an incompetent CEO is laughable if not sad. Speaker JB Muturi needs to take the rookie MPs for a workshop on their roles. One of the roles is not engaging in village dances in a Nairobi trying to institute impeachment proceedings to please village girlfriends. Parliament is the August House, not a Manyatta.
