What has been Eugene Wamalwa's role in the Coalition Government?

If you want to know the real enemies of Kenya’s reforms, look no further than the ever-smiling (but conniving and devious) Eugene Wamalwa. Ever since his public extolling by the President’s son (Jimmy Kibaki) and close association with Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, this Mt. Kenya Mafia poodle has been exposed as one of the greatest enemies of Kenya’s reforms; in particular the new Constitution. The tricksters, led by propagandist Tony Gachoka, have been promoting this Uhuru Kenyatta side-kick as a viable future leader of Kenya.

In the short period he replaced Mutula Kilonzo as Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eugene Wamalwa will go down in history as having (based on a well researched audit report conducted by the Daily Nation – available in their digital edition of Tuesday 14 August 2012):

• Deleted 28 clauses from the CIC version of the Integrity Bill (as was contained in the CIC Bill, initially supported by Mutula Kilonzo)

• Paved way for people with questionable integrity or serious ongoing criminal cases to vie for top public positions (the Presidency, the Senate, Gubernatorial, Parliament and County Assemblies)

• Reversed strict Constitutional rules for vetting public officials

• Eliminated the constitutionally-guaranteed public participation during public appointments

• Removed the requirement for receipt of a “certificate of compliance” from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), NSIS, KRA (tax collector), National Police Service and Higher Education Loans Board for all seeking public office (as was contained in the CIC Bill, initially supported by Mutula Kilonzo).

• Mutilated the requirement for severe punishment for leaders failing the integrity test while in office (changing it from total disbarment for 10 years and jail time to a mere slap with a fine of KSh. 5 million)

• Completely deleted the requirement for wealth declaration (in public) for all leaders aspiring for public offices. We shall now not know the net worth of all candidates vying for the Presidency, unlike in modern democracies.

• Eliminated the requirement for the EACC to institute inquiries related to unexplained income while in public office, something the new Constitution is quite clear about.

• In a clear attempt to subvert cooperation with the ICC (on behalf of his paymaster Uhuru Kenyatta), Eugene Wamalwa has ridiculously introduced a clause that threatens public officials against cooperating with “foreign governments”. This, from Wamalwa’s team of drafters: “A State officer shall not further the interests of a foreign government, organization, or individual, in a manner that may be detrimental to the security interests of Kenya”. This cunning and vague clause with undefined parameters is obviously a trap meant to threaten public officials against dealing with any foreign entities including the ICC and foreign embassies.

• Removed the clause that would have barred (as required by the new Constitution) state and public officers to do business with their close relatives and friends using public funds. The original CIC Bill, taking cue from the new Constitution, specifically barred the use of government resources to award contracts to “State officer’s spouse, child, relative, friend, or any other person with direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the officer”. Wamalwa has lobbed this out on behalf of his Mt. Kenya Mafia paymasters! Uhuru Kenyatta obviously wants public funds to continue profiting his businesses at CMC motors (suppliers of VW Passats to Government), Commercial Bank of Africa (high-interest-rate domestic loans to Treasury) or holding expensive public seminars at his various resorts and hotels. The new Constitution was threatening this until ‘savior’ Eugene Wamalwa came to the rescue.

• Wamalwa has also exempted future Cabinet Secretaries (Ministers) and County Executive Committee members from the clause requiring all appointed State officers to be politically neutral. To fully appreciate the significance of this particular anti-reform mutilation, one only needs to look at the personal and political relationship between Eugene Wamalwa and one Tony Gachoka. Eugene has appointed Tony Gachoka to play dirty political games (on his and Uhuru’s behalf) targeting the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Gachoka is an appointed Senior State Officer working in Wamalwa’s Ministry of Justice and paid close to 1 million shillings per month by Kenyan taxpayer. Gachoka has been hired by Uhuru and Wamalwa specifically to dig up KNCHR records from the Justice Ministry archives in desperate pursuit of the Prime Minister. That is the genesis of the brouhaha about Gachoka and his botched trip to The Hague. It’s all silly politics at the expense of the Kenyan taxpayer. Uhuru and Wamalwa want to retain this clause of allowing state officials to continue playing politics while in public office, so they can continue targeting political rivals in future. This is basically the vision of these anti-reform agents.

• Wamalwa’s extracurricular and anti-reform activities (on behalf of Kenyatta) have extended beyond this Leadership and Integrity Bill. He has also pounced on and watered-down at least 8 other Bills, including the Petition to Parliament Bill, the Petition to County Assemblies Bill, the Assumption of Office of the President Bill, the National Intelligence Service Bill, the National Security Service Bill, the National Security Council Bill and the Kenya Defence Forces Bill, and is currently in the process of mutilating the Campaign Financing Bill. From the above, it is clear that Wamalwa’s master, Uhuru Kenyatta, is seriously angling to control all security and legislative apparatuses of the country.

It’s as if Eugene Wamalwa is customising our brand new Constitution to fit the whims of one legally-besieged individual called Uhuru Kenyatta. Former Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo would never have allowed such devious and ominous developments to proceed right under his nose – no wonder they kicked him out of this crucial Ministry.

To quote from the Daily Nation audit report, “Eugene Wamalwa has engineered the watering-down of the Leadership and  integrity Bill to an extent it won’t serve the purpose envisaged in Chapter Six of the Constitution.” The Commission on Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) has in fact protested against Wamalwa’s mutilation of the Katiba through these transition Bills.

I repeat for clarity, Eugene Wamalwa will go down in history as one of the first vultures hired to mutilate our brand new Constitution on behalf of the same retrogressive masters of impunity who have stifled for the last 50 years. Together with Attorney General Githu Muigai, Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin, Wamalwa has probably inflicted the worst damage yet to the recently promulgated Constitution. The ethics and moral standards injected by the new Constitution have been dealt a serious blow.

Casual observers would have thought Eugene Wamalwa would do better than Mutula Kilonzo in terms of reforms. The plain truth, however, is Wamalwa has proved to be a hopeless anti-reform agent working for Uhuru Kenyatta. His appointment at the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ministry was specifically planned to effect successful mutilation of the Constitution, most specifically the Leadership and Integrity Bill. Wamalwa has gone further, as if on steroids, having already mutilated 8 other reform anchoring Bills. He has been unmasked as one of the country's worst enemies.