United Democratic Alliance Secretary General Cleophas Malala has come to the defence of President William Ruto following an uproar over the appointment of two board chairs of government institutions to party positions.
Speaking during a press conference on Thursday, March 4, Malala maintained that 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.
Mwaura was appointed as the chair of the National Elections Board while Mdivo was appointed to the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee.
In his statement, Malala maintained that the duo were not state officers despite serving as board chairs in government positions.
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 provision of the law on who constitutes a public officer. We are guided by judicial precedence that has found and held that chairpersons of state corporations are not public officers within the definition of Article 260 of the Constitution," he stated.
Further, he explained that the appointment and remuneration of board chairs were done differently from all other government employees.
"Importantly the requirement for one to become a board chairperson under the law is that one should not be a public officer. Board chairpersons are appointed by the president discretionally and they are not enumerated as employees of the institutions that they chair," Malala stated.
UDA made the appointment of the duo in readiness for the party primaries set to commence this month.
The response by the UDA party comes after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga called on the duo to resign from their government positions, citing a conflict of interest.
"In particular, the Committee expressed deep concerns over developments in UDA, where public officers, paid by taxpayers from all political formations, have been appointed as party officials. We are staring at the return of the Party State system last seen in the 1980s where party leaders and public servants were one and the same thing.
"Consequently, we demand that all those people who have been named as UDA officials must immediately resign from public service. There is no way they will serve two masters, the public and the UDA party," the ODM party demanded.
