Court nullifies Matemu choice over integrity

• The annulment means a fresh recruitment for a substantive head of the commission without whom key decisions on corruption related cases cannot be made, leading to prosecution and possible conviction.
• Three judges upheld a petition by human rights group Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance that Mr Matemu suffered serious integrity issues making him unsuitable to head the anti-graft body.
• Judges Joel Mwaura, George Odunga, and Mumbi Ngugi directed the appointing authority — President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga with the approval of Parliament, to choose another person “who is morally upright to head the commission.”

The war against corruption has been taken a step back once again after a constitutional court Wednesday nullified the appointment of Mumo Matemu as chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The annulment means a fresh recruitment for a substantive head of the commission without whom key decisions on corruption related cases cannot be made, leading to prosecution and possible conviction.

Three judges upheld a petition by human rights group Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance that Mr Matemu suffered serious integrity issues making him unsuitable to head the anti-graft body.

Judges Joel Mwaura, George Odunga, and Mumbi Ngugi directed the appointing authority — President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga with the approval of Parliament, to choose another person “who is morally upright to head the commission.”

The judges said that no proper enquiries were conducted to give Mr Matemu a clean bill of health following allegations of impropriety when he served as the chief legal officer of the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC).

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“No due attention was given by the appointing authority to interrogate the evidence of financial impropriety tabled in Parliament and the vetting board before forwarding the name of Mr Matemu to President Kibaki for approval,” ruled the judges.

The judges said that recruiters should be assertive when serious allegations ‘‘have been made against a constitutional office holder.”

“We also wonder whether the President or Prime Minister considered the contents of a letter from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) acknowledging the involvement of Mr Matemu in the alleged financial scandal,” noted the judges.

Corruption files

The rights group had argued that during Mr Matemu’s tenure as the AFC chief legal officer, Sh24 million was irregularly lent to Rift Valley Agricultural Contractors in 1993.

Through its lawyer, Gordon Ogolla, the group said this could not have happened without the knowledge of Mr Matemu by virtue of his position.

The loan was approved despite the parcel of land used as security having been sold four years prior to the transaction.

Subsequently, advances of Sh18 million and Sh19.2 million were released to companies associated with Rift Valley Agricultural Contractors, the rights group argued.

However, the money was disbursed to National Bank of Kenya in unclear circumstances. Mr Matemu denied the allegations, saying that he was not involved in approving loans while at the corporation.