From: Kuria-Mwangi
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 8:58 AM
Subject: Ringera bows out of KACC job

Ringera bows out of KACC job

The Kenya Anti Corruption Commission director Aaron Ringera. He has resigned from office on September 30, 2009 Photo/FILE
The Kenya Anti Corruption Commission director Aaron Ringera. He has resigned from office on September 30, 2009 Photo/FILE
By ANTHONY KARIUKIPosted Wednesday, September 30 2009 at 15:16
In Summary

* Deputy director Ms Fatuma Sichale also resigns.
*
The KACC advisory board is now free to advertise for the three vacant positions.

The director of the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission Justice Aaron Ringera has finally left office.

The besieged KACC boss resigned Wednesday following relentless pressure from the body’s advisory board, civil society, politicians and Kenyans to have him step aside.

Mr Ringera communicated his decision to KACC staff during a brief meeting, after which he was to address a news conference.
The deputy director in charge of legal services Ms Fatuma Sichale has also resigned joining fellow deputy Dr Smokin Wanjala, who quit two weeks ago.

The KACC advisory board is now free to advertise for the three positions.
Since Parliament declared his reappointment by President Kibaki illegal three weeks ago, Mr Ringera has defied calls for his resignation until now, even telling off the board when challenged to quit.

He said that only the courts can remove him from office and refused to release funds to place an advertisement for the director’s post saying there was “no vacancy.”

The House, acting on the recommendations of two committees- Delegated Legislation and Administration, Justice and Legal Affairs- nullified his reappointment for a further five-year term after finding President Kibaki erred in law in renewing his contract.

The President reappointed Justice Ringera without reference to the KACC Advisory Board or Parliament, a move termed illegal by the two institutions.

The board is supposed to shortlist candidates, send them to Parliament for vetting before they are forwarded to the President for appointment.
Last week, Mr Ringera met the Chief Justice and the President amid reports that he was being prepared to return to the judiciary as an appellate judge even as his options and those offering their backing reduced.

Indeed, a source close to the presidency said that Ringera’s chances of staying on were “close to none” signalling that State House was distancing itself from the man.

—
http://www.kuria-mwangi.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/kjmwangi

From: Munyambu Vinya
Subject: Re: NEWS :- Ringera bows out of KACC job
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 10:01 AM

This is great news for Kenya. Next in line Ambassador Peter Ogego in Washington DC and AG Amos Wako!

From: Mugo Macharia
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:50 PM
To: Dickens Odhiambo; Munyambu Vinya

Subject: Re: NEWS :- Ringera bows out of KACC job

The focus should be empowering KACC to equip it with prosecutorial powers; The next Director will face the same fate if s/he’s not empowered to prosecute the culpable.

As for Ogego, I live in Washington DC and have never understood what his failures are. Granted, his time is up but there seems to be some personal issues with Ogego from some quarters. Does the Foreign service need to be overhauled or does Ogego have some overarching professional failures? Ambassadors are political appointees and I am sure it’s more politics than competency; I’ve heard him speak and given that he’s not a career foreign service officer, he’s well-spoken, can more than hold his own and I think has represented Kenya well. Wako should have been gone yesterday.

Hope we can distinguish between fixing the system and removing those appointed by the other side. If we appoint an ODM guy tomorrow in Washington, if ODM does not win the next election, should s/he be removed by the other side?

Some might argue that Ranneberger is not telling the whole story about Kenya. He’s a Bush appointee and yet he’s still serving a Democratic President.

I am not in any way vouching for Ringera because quite frankly, corruption has been a cancer in Kenya for a second and its eradication should be the focus of all. However, a game of musical chairs in calculation for the next election will not fix our country. We all love Kenya to death and should fight to fix the broken system rather than removing individuals.

90 MPs did not vote for Ringera’s ouster. What lesson is there? If indeed the MPs want to fix the cancer that ails us, why can’t they stand up to be counted? Is Parliament our savior now, given that over 70 percent of MPs in the last Parliament lost their jobs and 2007’s history has a hihg likelihood of repeating itself?

Most well know a modern democracy consists of an independent judiciary and legislature with the executive usually as the highest office in the land.

We may celebrate today because of Kibaki’s “loss” but we must be wary of a hypocritical legislature that might run amok, a scenario that might render the country ungovernable.

Watering down the powers of the executive is a must, however let’s not celebrate when Parliament threatens to choke KACC due to Ringera’s appointment; tantamount with throwing the baby with bath’s water.

I submit that Ringera found, and the next KACC Director will find a lot of MPs are answereable to corruption crimes.

As for me, Ringera’s resignation is a win-win because the Executive needs to follow the spirit of the law where none has been spelled out outrightly. To me, that’s the victory MPs should be celebrating, not the ouster of an individual. As long as the Constitutional Act that created KACC remains as it was constituted, Ringera’s ouster is tantamount to removing a tumor without chemotherapy/radiation.

NAJIVUNIA KUWA MKENYA

Mugo Macharia–With Peace Alive

“Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition”- Anonymous

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 3:30 PM, KHASAKHALA, HUDSON wrote:

I agree with Mugo on Ringera.

This whole celebratory mood about Ringera’s resignation is hopeless if the same institutions remain intact. I have been steadfast in all my postings, on the dire need for Institutional changes. We cannot just play musical chairs with these positions without reforming the institutions. What Parliament did is actually historical and the way forward, but only the beginning of the long haul in amending the Constitution.

On Ogego, its all politics. He served as the Chairman of the Odinga Foundation,then fell out with Raila and got fired. He then patronized the then Foreign Affairs Minister, Raphael Tuju and was appointed Amb to Canada,then subsequently transferred to Washington. The intrigues continue playing out… All through my stay in DC, I have never really met the man,so I cant comment much,apart from what I publicly know about him.

From: Munyambu Vinya
Subject: Re: NEWS :- Ringera bows out of KACC job
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 4:45 PM

I concur with Mugo’s view as well especially on institutional changes to create a room for a better Kenya. Constitution needs to be changed to make a room for a brighter future!.

However, I disagree with Mugo on Ambassador Peter Ogego. First for those who know him, the guy is not a diplomat at all. Many Kenyans abroad know him as the rogue ambassador who was used by some big fish to make uncalled political attacks on President Obama when he was a senator. My view is that Ambassador Ogego should be recalled immediately for the good of the country.Kibaki knows this and refuses to let go for selfish reasons. Ogego’s stay in the US as Kenya’s Ambasador is only affecting the relationship between Kenya and the United States including you and all of us!

As a person, Ogego is not a Diplomat at all. He thinks he is, BUT HE IS NOT. Ogego is a very arrogant man and likes to make long boring speeches. He has refused to improve himself by taking sides with the likes of Tuju. As a political appointee with no diplomacy training, he is but nuts to say the least. All what Ogego is doing is protecting his stomach by any means necessary. He knows he has been eating. Have you heard the saga with the money disappearing in the Embassy and Ogego blaming someone else? Have you seen his stomach lately? Please. Ambassador Peter Ogego must go and follow the likes of Ringera ASAP!

—
-Munyambu Vinya