Ruto Did Not Break The Law- Malala Faults ODM's Demand For Board Chairs To Resign

United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary General, Cleophas Malala on Thursday, April 4 slammed the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) for pushing for the resignation of two board chairs of government institutions who were appointed by the ruling party to its positions.

Speaking in a media address, Malala affirmed that President William Ruto did not break any law in appointing Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) board chair Anthony Mwaura and Kenya Power board chair Joy Mdivo to positions related to the party primaries.

The KRA boss was appointed as the chairperson of the National Elections Board while Mdivo was appointed to the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee, a move ODM previously claimed contradicted the Ethics and Integrity Act.

KRA Chairman Anthony Mwaura during a past UDA meeting. /CAPITAL GROUP

According to Malala, the two do not fall under the definition of public officers as outlined by the Kenyan Constitution.

He cited that the party and the President considered the definition of state officer as outlined in the constitution before making the appointments.

"We are fully aware of the definitive provisions of the law on what and who constitutes a “Public Officer”. We are guided by judicial precedents and determinations that have found and held that Chairpersons of state corporations are not public officers within the definition of Article 260 of the Constitution," said Malala.

He added that the appointment as well as the remuneration of board chairs were done differently from all other government employees.

"Importantly, the requirement and qualification to be a chairperson under the law is that one must not be a Public Officer. Board Chairpersons are appointed by the President discretionally and are not remunerated as employees of the institutions that they Chair," he added.

Malala similarly called out ODM for allegedly failing to uphold democratic principles within its organization, pointing out that the Raila Odinga-led faction allegedly only announced plans to conduct grassroots party elections after UDA did the same.

"The absence of grassroots election within the ODM party since its inception, close to 20 years ago, raises serious questions about its commitment to democratic processes," said Malala.  

The UDA Secretary-General likewise asserted that ODM was meddling with its party affairs to divert attention away from its internal issues.

UDA made the appointment of the duo in readiness for the party primaries set to commence this month.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, April 3, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna responded to the appointments by alleging that public officials cannot serve the interests of Kenyans and political parties at the same time.

He lamented that the move would smell of a reincarnation of what was witnessed in the KANU regime in the 1980s where public servants and party leaders were working in the same roles at once.