Power games have erupted in Parliament over a decision by the Parliamentary Service Commission to re-hire retiring National Assembly Clerk Micheal Sialai for one-year contract.
The Star has established that the commission has moved to have key parliamentary staff including Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye probed over allegations of leaking confidential documents to activist Okiya Omtatah.
Nyegenye is the secretary to the Parliamentary Service Commission and is the custodian of commission documents and minutes.
According to sources within PSC Nyegenye is being drugged into an investigation to lay ground for his suspension.
"How can someone senior like him give out confidential documents? It is pure with-hunt by those who have always wanted him out," said a commissioner.
The PSC had on April 7, 2021 — in its 291st meeting — resolved to retain Sialai on contract with effect from May 26, 2021, to July 31, 2022.
Sialai's term expires on May 26 but the commission resolved to reappoint Sialai for a one-year contract despite having attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 years.
The commission had argued that it wanted Sialai to midwife the National Assembly debates on the proposed Building Bridges Initiative constitutional amendments and to ensure a smooth transition between the current and the next Parliaments.
However, Omtatah moved to court to challenge the term extension without the approval of the House as provided in Article 128(1) of the Constitution as well as sections 26, 27 and 36 of the Parliamentary Service Act.
How Omtatah obtained the confidential commission minutes and reappointment approvals is now a subject of police investigations in what has exposed the power battles in Parliament.
There are fears that the control of the multi-billion budgets in Parliament could be at the heart of the wars with some commissioners said to be opposed to Sialai's term extension.
Yesterday Omtatah said his case in court would be up for a mention on Thursday.
“The file had disappeared but it has now been located and the mention will be tomorrow (Thursday),” he told the Star denying knowledge of any probe into the matter.
In the case filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi and certified urgent, the activist says Sialai’s reappointment on a contractual basis is illegal and unconstitutional.
The PSC invited the DCI to investigate Nyegenye and other staff members for allegedly sneaking the classified documents to Omtatah to enable him challenge Sialai's reappointment.
Consequently, the DCI's Special Crimes Unit has obtained warrants to search the homes of the six staff to confiscate evidence that would prosecute them for the crime of stealing contrary to section 75 of the Penal Code.
The officers targeted in the search include Nyegenye, Committees Director Florence Abonyo, Clerk Assistant Hassan Odhowa, media relations officer Washington Otiato and Wellington Namenge.
Investigating officer, inspector of police Simon Ndaragwa were given search warrant by Kiambu Chief Magistrate on May 18.
“Whereas its has been proved to this honourable court on oath that for the purposes of investigating the commission of an offense of stealing contrary to section 268 of the penal code CAP 63 laws of Kenya, it is necessary and desirable to warrants to gain entry and search the premises/ houses/residences of Jeremiah Nyegenye to the Applicant No. 237077 IP Simon Ndaragwa or any other authorised investigator,” read the search warrant.
The purpose of the search is for the collection of any digital, electronic computing devises and gadgets and their passwords, codes and unlock IDs that may have been used to commit the stealing.
Omtatah has said the PSC decision to retain the clerk violates a resolution made by its board of senior management in March 2015 that positions of directors, deputy clerks and clerks of the two Houses should be advertised through an external recruitment agency six months before the position falls vacant.
“If the commission had commenced the competitive recruitment process for Sialai’s successor in December 2020, some six months to his May 25, 2021 retirement date, a new clerk would have been appointed some 13 months to the August 2022 General Election,” he says.
In December 2012 Patrick Gichohi retired as National Assembly Clerk upon attaining the age of 60 years.
The PSC through a competitive recruitment process undertaken externally by PriceWaterHouseCoopers, and with the approval of the National Assembly, recruited Justin Bundi in October 2012.
In 2017, when the Bundi was due to retire on March 21, 2017, the PSC advertised the vacancy in the position some six months earlier and recruited Sialai four months to the August 2017 General Election.
The PSC did not extend Bundi’s tenure so he could oversee the transition from the Eleventh to Twelveth Parliament.
-Edited by SKanyara
