Kitui assembly Speaker George Ndotto said on Wednesday MCAs will be guided strictly by the law and will not violate it by dancing to Governor Charity Ngilu's tune.
For a second time, the assembly rejected Ngilu's list of nominees to the County Public Service Board. Four of the five had been rejected earlier and resubmission of names is not allowed at this time, Ndotto said.
In a signed statement, Ndotto said he expected the executive under Ngilu herself would also be guided by the rule of law.
The speaker was reacting to Ngilu's claims he had engineered the rejection of her second list of nominees to the county PSB presented to the assembly on October 1. Four of the five were the same rejected earlier.
The county has been without a PSB since late 2019.
Ngilu had on Tuesday told the media Ndotto was keen to settle political scores with her since he was a long-time political nemesis because of rejecting her nominees. She also said he had masterminded a failed attempt to impeach her.
In his statement, Notto said Ngilu's list of five nominees had been rejected because Ngilu was resubmitting four names already rejected.
He said four of the nominees—Francis Kililu, Esther Muthui, Joseph Kyavoa and David Munyau—were not suitable because they had already been rejected in May.
He said Section 10 of the Public Appointments Act states that where nominations are rejected by the assembly, the appointing authority should submit other nominees.
“It also states that a nominating authority shall not resubmit the name of a candidate whose nomination has been rejected by the county assembly unless the circumstances relied on for the rejection did not exist or ceased to exist at the time of rejection,” Ndotto added.
Ndotto added County Assembly Standing Order 46 stipulates that a new nominee, after a rejection, could only be considered after six months.
He said the legal date when the assembly could lawfully consider the four resubmitted names and the fifth, Dr Florence Makindu, is November 13, 2020.
(Edited by V. Graham)
