Johannesburg – Kenyan opposition party, the National Super Alliance (Nasa), will not submit its list of members to Kenya’s Committee of Appointment of the National Assembly, thereby thwarting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to reorganise his cabinet following his inauguration on Tuesday, Kenya’s Daily Nation reports.
Nasa leader Raila Odinga has further made it clear that he will not go down without a fight following Kenyatta’s second-term electoral victory, which was proceeded by months of court battles following the initial elections in August and the rerun in October, both of which Kenyatta won.
The Committee of Appointment is chaired by the speaker and is responsible for vetting of cabinet secretaries (CSs) as and when they are nominated for appointment by the president.
Read more:
The latest development could possibly impact moves by Kenyatta to reorganise his cabinet, which includes the appointment of new CSs.
“We do not want to be party to the appointment of CSs because we do not recognise the election of Kenyatta as President,” said Minority Leader John Mbadi.
“This is the reason why we will not participate in the formation of this committee and the possibility of vetting his CSs.”
Also read:
However, Mbadi confirmed that the opposition will submit its representatives to the other house committees - housekeeping, watchdog and departmental.
The Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act stipulates that nominees for CS must be vetted by the national assembly before the president formerly appoints them.
This is not the only step Odinga has taken to make life difficult for Kenyatta.
Odinga has also declared that he will also be sworn in as the “people’s president” in a separate “inauguration” on December 12, in addition to declaring that his party and its followers would never recognise the current government and its president and would form a “resistance party”.