The National Assembly on Wednesday, December 11, flagged as fake a memo requesting the vetting of nominees for cabinet positions.
Parliament sought to dismiss the memo that made rounds online and had gained significant traction in an effort to quell any concerns that Kenyans had.
“This document is not from the National Assembly. It is fake,” the National Assembly averred.
The alleged memo by the National Assembly regarding the nomination of Matiang’i, Kagwe and other individuals into Cabinet that was flagged as fake on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 by Parliament
Photo
Parliament of Kenya
The fake memo that bore the signature of the Clerk of the National Assembly and addressed to the CEO of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) contained names of political leaders who had allegedly been nominated for various cabinet posts.
In the now flagged memo, former Education CS Fred Matiang’i, former Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, former Agriculture CS Peter Munya, former Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, and Anthony Mwaura had all been nominated to the education, health, agriculture, water and roads dockets respectively.
Out of the five individuals, Matiang’i, Kagwe and Munya had served in former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet. The other two are seen as individuals with political inclinations to Uhuru.
In the fake document, Parliament had sought the services of the anti-corruption body to do background checks on the nominated persons. The law-making arm of the government had given the commission up to Monday, December 16, to finish the process.
“In accordance with the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya, your Commission is requested to conduct a thorough background check on the nominees to assess their compliance with the ethical and legal requirements for holding public office,” the fake memo read.
By law, the President nominates individuals to the Cabinet, and sends the names of the nominated persons to Parliament who then proceed to direct EACC to conduct background checks on the nominated individuals before they can proceed with vetting.
The timing of the flagged memo came after President Ruto met retired President Uhuru on Monday, December 9, leading to speculation that plans were underway to incorporate Uhuru’s allies into a ‘super broad-based government.’
However, the message from Uhuru and Ruto’s communications teams was that the two had met to discuss issues of national and regional importance.
A photo of the National Assembly during the joint sitting address by President William Ruto on Thursday, November 21, 2024, in Nairobi.
PCS