The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has told off the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party over the demand for the resignation of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) chairman Anthony Mwaura and KPLC Board Chair Joy Mdivo after they were appointed to the UDA Party organs.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, April 4, UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malalah said the ruling party respects and upholds the constitution and is aware of the provisions on what and who constitutes a public officer.
Malalah argued that chairpersons of state parastatals are not public officers as claimed by the ODM Party.
The former Kakamega senator pointed out that Mwaura and Mdivo are not renumerated as employees of the institutions they chair.
“UDA Party respects upholds and protects the constitution and abides by all the parameters of the law. As a result, we are fully aware of the definitive provisions of the law on what and who constitutes a public officer. We are guided by judicial precedence and determinations that are affirmed and held that chairpersons of state corporations are not public officers within the definition of article 260 of the constitution,” said Malalah.
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He continued,” Importantly, the requirements and qualifications to be a chairperson under the law is that one must not be a public officer. Both chairpersons are appointed by the President and are not renumerated as employees of the institutions that they chair.”
The UDA Party’s National Steering Committee on Tuesday appointed Mwaura as the chairperson of the National Elections Board and Mdivo as the chairperson of the Electoral Disputes Resolutions Committee.
The appointments did not sit well with the ODM party which said public officials cannot serve the interests of Kenyans and political parties at the same time.
In a statement, the opposition party claimed that the move would result in dictatorship and partisanship in the management of public affairs.
"We take the position that this development is wrong, it is a recipe for chaos and dictatorship and partisanship in the management of public affairs. Consequently, we demand that all those people who have been named as UDA officials must immediately resign from public office. There is no way they will serve two masters the public and the UDA Party,” ODM stated.
According to a court judgment in 2020 in a case between the Katiba Institute and the Attorney General, the court ruled that chairpersons and members of boards of state corporations and parastatals are not offices in the public service.
"Regarding remuneration and benefits, our reading of the law is that this is not directly drawn from the Consolidated Fund or directly provided by Parliament. Under section 11 of the State Corporations Act, state corporations are required to prepare and submit to the line minister and the Treasury for approval, yearly estimates of their revenue and expenditure accompanied by proposals for funding of the projects they are to undertake, or implement during the financial year.
"This is testimony to the fact that state corporations and parastatals generate their own revenue for expenditure, and their funding is not necessarily wholly provided for by Parliament. To answer the first issue in this petition, we find and hold that positions of chairpersons and members of boards of state corporations and parastatals are not offices in the public service," the court ruled.
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