Some ten months ago, a substantial majority of Kenyan voters voted to adopt a new Constitution, although there was significant opposition from those who liked the old way of running the country and those who disliked particular clauses in the new Constitution. One of the aims of the new Constitution was to improve governance; another was to clean up the judiciary. Since the adoption of the new Constitution, there has been a continuous struggle between those who want to stick to its terms and those who want to circumvent them.
After a couple of false starts, a public interview process was adopted for the vetting of applicants for the role of Chief Justice before a candidate was recommended to parliament. However, a similarly transparent process appears not to have been followed in respect of Keriako Tobiko, the candidate nominated for Director of Public Prosecutions. Various allegations have been made in the media seeking to impugn his integrity. Mr Tobiko’s efforts in the past at prosecuting influential personalities accused of corruption have been less than successful.
Unfortunately the tribal politics that came to the fore in the disastrous elections of December 2007 continue to be a significant source of dissension in the country. Mr Tobiko is from the Maasai tribe, and the Maasai community has been vigorously defending him. Various civil society groups are claiming that the panel which selected Mr Tobiko did not comply with the requirements of the Constitution. Debate on the issue is scheduled to continue in parliament today.