A report by the parliamentary Lands committee is due to be presented to the house this afternoon for debate. The censure motion is likely to be brought to the floor today.
The Lands committee is chaired by Alex Mwiri (Tharaka) and his Delegated Legislation Counterpart William Cheptumo (Baringo North).
"She must know that things have changed. We will not allow her to break the law at will and get away with it," said a senior TNA MP yesterday.
The URP wing of the Jubilee coalition is also understood to be unhappy with Ngilu and are working with their TNA colleagues. "Ngilu has no respect for the law and other government officials. She is openly usurping the powers of the land Commission and creating positions that are non existent. She must know that this is a different, new and law respecting government," said a URP MP known to be close to the President.
According to Article 152 of the constitution, 80 MPs can introduce a petition to Parliament calling for the removal of a cabinet secretary. If a majority of the MPs present in the house during the debate pass the resolution, the Speaker will write to the President transmitting the resolution."The President shall dismiss the cabinet secretary," says section 10(b) of Article 152.
According to multiple sources, the Lands Committee has already recommended her removal from office in the report to be tabled in the National Assembly today. The report was to be tabled yesterday in the afternoon but Speaker Justin Muturi moved it to today.
The report, according to sources, has revoked the appointment of Peter Kahuho as Director General of Lands as well as all the other appointments and promotions by Ngilu. It has ordered for new appointments through the Public Service Commission.
“The mandate of the National Lands Commission and the PSC are very clear in the constitution. The minister should not usurp the powers of other institutions. We are determined to push the motion through because we have the numbers as we have done our homework,” said a member of the joint committee.
“The constitution is clear that the role of the cabinet secretary shall be on policy issues as the PS does accounting work. But Ngilu wants to do everybody's work,” said another URP committee member.
Speaker Justin Muturi ordered that the joint house committees investigate after the appointment of Peter Kahuho on October 15 as Director General of Lands was questioned by Kirinyaga Central MP Joseph Gitari.
Kahuho was appointed to replace former Lands Commissioner Zablon Mabea but the position is not provided for in the constitution or land laws.Gitari asked if the gazette notice appointing Kahuho was legitimate and what was the status of the tittle deeds that he signed.
Attorney General Professor Githu Muigai appeared before the committee on Monday and said he was not involved in the special gazette notice appointing Kahuho. The AG confirmed that the position was non-existent in the constitution.
Ngilu admitted that she bypassed the AG in the legal notice but told the committee that Kahuho’s appointment was on an interim basis to resolve the backlog of unsigned titles in the ministry.
- The Star
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