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Following their indictment by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity both the Head of the Public Service, Francis Muthaura, and the Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta resigned from office, or is it stepped aside? A statement from the Presidential Press Office reads:
“His Excellency the President has accepted the decision by Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, EGH, M.P, to step aside as the Minister for Finance. However, Hon. Kenyatta will retain the position of Deputy Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution.”
While the resignation of Uhuru Kenyatta from the position of Finance Minister is welcome, the logic of resigning from the post of Finance Minister but not from the post of Deputy Prime Minister eludes me.
Read together neither the Constitution and nor the National Accord and Reconciliation Act precludes the Deputy Prime Minister from resigning, I mean stepping aside, from this position following his indictment by the ICC, in fact some would say the law requires that it.
Yes, Section 12 of the Sixth Schedule of the constitution on Transitional and Consequential Provisions states that “The persons occupying the offices of…Deputy Prime Minister …immediately before the effective date shall continue to serve in accordance with the former Constitution until the first general elections held under this Constitution unless they vacate or are removed from office in accordance with the former Constitution and the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008.”
However according to the National Accord and Reconciliation Act Article 4 (a) the office of the Deputy Prime Minister can become vacant “if the holder of office…resigns…” Further the President and Prime Minister are obligated to “ensure that any person holding public office or any public servant charged with a criminal offence related to 2008 post election violence shall be suspended from duty until the matter is fully adjudicated upon.” There is nothing to indicate that the holder of the position of Deputy Prime Minister is exempted from this provision.
Is it logical/legal that Uhuru Kenyatta stepped aside from the position of Finance Minister but still retains the position of Deputy Prime Minster, your thoughts?
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