Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale on Monday declared that the vetting committee would not approve former Kenya Power boss Ben Chumo's nomination for the position of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chairperson.
Speaking at parliament buildings, Duale noted that Chumo had already failed the integrity test and his appearance at the committee was an exercise in futility.
"Whether Chumo appears before the committee or not, within the reading of the Constitution and the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, he has failed and cannot be approved by the committee or the house," he maintained.
The Garissa Township MP recommended that the president recall the nomination of the former Kenya Power boss and forward another name for vetting.
"From where I sit, we will give the appointing authority (the President) another opportunity to forward another name," he added.
[caption caption="Former Kenya Power MD Ben Chumo when he appeared before National Assembly's Finance and National Planning Committee for vetting for the chairmanship of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission on 23/7/2018"]
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Appearing before the before the National Assembly Committee on Finance and National Planning, Chumo stated that the legislators should vet him under the presumption of innocence in light of the being charged with graft.
"I plead with this committee not to get to a situation where someone throws some spanner in the works to deny me this opportunity.
"I am innocent until proven guilty and urge this house to allow the spirit of constitutionalism. Someone might be looking at this opportunity you are about to give but you should not allow it because I really deserve it," he appealed to the committee.
The session was nothing short of intense as Nyali MP Mohammed Ali outrightly referred to Mr Chumo as a 'corrupt official' under investigation.
"You are in court on corruption charges, you have the full guts to sit in front of us to demand for this job and yet you have not settled your issues with the courts to be declared whether you are guilty or not. You are here demanding for this job yet you know that you are a corrupt person," he addressed.
Moha 'Jicho Pevu' was forced to retract the statement as Chumo declined to comment on the subject insisting that the matter was in court.
Here is the video courtesy of NTV:
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