•Daisy Amdany of Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust wants courts to declare the delay by Uhuru to appoint the officer as unconstitutional.
•Garissa Township MP Aden Duale says the assumption of office committee would not have a substantive chair if constituted today.
Kenya is staring at a crisis during the transition following the delays by President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint the Secretary to the Cabinet.
The officer is the constitutionally mandated chairperson of the critical Assumption of the Office of the President Committee that manages transition after the General Election.
The post has remained vacant since MPs rejected President Kenyatta’s appointment of Monica Juma – now Energy Cabinet Secretary - in 2015.
Lawmakers rejected Juma over a letter she reportedly authored that was adjudged as besmirching the name of the House.
Juma was then Interior Principal Secretary having replaced PS Mutea Iringo. The purported letter was authored when she was Defence PS.
Deputy President William Ruto’s team has asked President Kenyatta to fill the post to avert a crisis during the transition after the August 9 general election.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale has sounded the alarm that there could be a problem during the transition if the office is not occupied.
He raised concern that Parliament may not get adequate time for the vetting and approval of the candidate considering only one session is left to the end of the current term.
“What this means is that the Assumption of the Office of the President Committee, if constituted today, would not have a chairperson,” Duale said.
He lamented the short period left for the Secretary of Cabinet to be appointed, considering MPs are only resuming for four weeks before recess.
“If this is not done, the assumption processes for the next president-elect may be jeopardised and negated with no leadership to govern the committee,” Duale said.
Upon their return, the House has core businesses to handle before the end of the term, key among them being the approval of the budget for the next financial year.
“Time is fast ticking and I hope that the relevant bodies will move with speed and put in place the leadership of the committee,” the MP said.
The Constitution in Article 154 establishes the office of Secretary to the Cabinet, to be nominated – and with approval of MPs - appointed by the President.
The AOPC is established by the Assumption of the Office of the President Act, 2012.
Section 5 (2) of the law says the Secretary to the Cabinet is the chair of the committee.
Members include the Attorney General, Interior Cabinet Secretary as well as Principal Secretaries for Interior, Treasury, Foreign Affairs and ICT.
Others are PSs in charge of constitutional affairs, matters relating to Cabinet Office, Devolution, Culture and Social Services.
Also on the committee are the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, National Intelligence Service director general and the Inspector General of Police.
State House administrator, Clerk of the National Assembly, Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, three persons nominated by the president-elect and clerk of the Senate sit on the committee.
The law provides that the committee facilitates the handing over process by the outgoing president to the president-elect, organises for the security of the President-elect, facilities and personnel.
The officer coordinates the briefings for the president-elect and facilitates communication between the outgoing president and the president-elect and organises the swearing-in ceremony.
A lobby has moved to court to seek orders compelling the President to speedily nominate a Secretary to the Cabinet.
Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust wants the court to declare the delay or refusal by Kenyatta to fill the post illegal and unconstitutional.
Daisy Amdany of the group argues that the country may end up without the committee duly formed as the procedure for filling the position may take longer.
“….hence the need the urgency considering that the county is 100 days from the date of the presidential election,” she said in her affidavit.
She holds that the law “specifically mandates the Secretary to the Cabinet to convene the first meeting of the Committee of Assumption of the Office of President.”
“The absence of a substantive officeholder has a potential to jeopardise the peaceful transfer of power to the President-elect,” Amdany said.
She added that the President is in breach of the Constitution in the prevailing scenario.
The petitioner wants the court to advise on the person to chair the AOPC in the absence of a substantive Secretary to the Cabinet.
“The absence of a substantive secretary to Cabinet is an important issue which ought to receive judicial direction as we head towards the presidential elections given that we are left with approximately 100 days ,” lawyer Christopher Ayieko said in his application made under certificate of urgency.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)