A case on judicial reforms and the purchase of Chief Justice’s residence returned to haunt former Deputy Chief Registrar, Kakai Kissinger, in his quest to become the next Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson.

The Selection Panel yesterday put Kissinger to task to explain the circumstances of the cases, which also saw him exit the Judiciary about 10 years ago, even as he maintained that he left as a victim but chose forgiveness.

The panel wondered how his name ended up at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), and why he was among persons recommended for prosecution over allegations of corruption.

He he defended his tenure, saying there were a lot of projects going on given that they came in at a time when the Constitution 2010 had come into place and were leading the reforms.

“Some of the issues we were dealing with were computerising the entire Judiciary. The other thing we were dealing with in the project is construction of courts across the country. This project had a lot of financial scrutiny and in the process of implementing the project, there was a lot of miscommunication and disinformation,” said the 50-year-old.

He said an investigation was later instituted on Mavoko courts, with reports indicating that it was never constructed. He claimed that EACC later found that it had been build on a different site, and the matter was dropped.

“In public service, you serve and do not understand what will hit you. The only thing that can save you in the public service is doing the right thing and sticking with the law. Rumours can come up in the public service to completely finish your career but truth stays straight and narrow, and I was vindicated,” he said.

On CJ’s house, Kissinger said the claim was that it had been purchased without a Cabinet memo as required.

However, he said they had just joined the Judiciary with the exit of  President Mwai Kibaki and it took time to do the transaction, but the memo was later traced.

“So were you dismissed from the Judiciary or you left at will?” asked a panelist.

Kissinger responded: “When serving the public serving and such kind of allegations come in, definitely you will be told to go. I decided to forgive because some of those things were done by people I did not understand.”

As he presented former Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Gladys Shollei’s reference, where she recommended him highly over tasks he undertook when he deputised her, the panel chair, Nelson Makanda, urged Kissinger to consider seeking judicial remedy over the matters raised.

The last candidate for the day was the Kenya Power Board of Directors Chairperson, Joy Brenda Masinde-Mdivo, who when asked if she would resign from the IEBC position, said it would depend on situations.

“If I’m doing what is needful as per my oath… if I abide by my oath faithfully, if I did and know what is good for the country, I will stand my grounds. I am one of the person who believe that God takes care of me, but if involved in something out of character or out of what I’m supposed to do, then the honourable thing to do would be to resign,” she said.

Jacob Ngwele, who is the Isiolo County chief legal advisor, was yet another candidate pressed to explain previous charges against him.

Ngwele told the panel that he was “maliciously” charged alongside five others when he served as the Clerk of the Nairobi County assembly, but was acquitted.

According to Ngwele, there was a leadership change in 2017 after the elections in the assembly, but he maintained the position of the clerk, and he alleged that a decision was made to hound some of them out of office.

“Part of the scheme was to create a fictitious and malicious accusation that we paid for goods not delivered – books worth about Sh800,000 – and that complaint was based on a draft report of internal auditor,” he said.

“We were arrested, went to court, charged and the court acquitted us, which meant we had no case to answer. The court in its judgement made a finding that the case was maliciously brought to effect a change in the institution so it was basically a classic case of abusing the legal process to get officers out of office and these are some of the challenges of the public office in this country.”

In yet another issue, he was asked to explain an audit query of Sh211 million paid outside the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in 2017/2018.

But Ngwele, 48, claimed that no money was lost in the process, saying that at the time, IFMIS was not fully rolled out to all counties.

“At the time, all of us were not on IFMIS. The issue was cleared because it was established that the assembly had not been integrated and payment had to be made out of IFMIS, but there was no loss of public funds.”

Another candidate, Erastus Ethekon, a former Turkana County attorney, told the panel he would learn from past elections mistakes to spearhead measures to to streamline the electioneering process.

He assured the pane that he was ready to handle the pressure that comes with the seat.

“I will speak from my heart. There are those who say congratulations, go for it, you have what it takes, then there are those saying no, you will die. They are going to beat you and all that negativity,” he said.

“Even if I do not go there, who will do it? Some Kenyan must to the job unless we are talking about outsourcing it, but if the Constitution says a Kenyan citizen must do this, then someone has to, and that is why I am here well aware of the pressures but for me as an individual. I have the stamina, strength and mental capacity to withstand those fracas,” he said

The 48-year-old noted the delay to reconstitute the commission had left many pending matters. One of the first tasks he would undertake, he said, is the pending by-elections.

Another issue he raised was on delimitation of boundaries, given that the constitutional deadline lapsed last year in March.

“Now that the timelines have ended, what are we supposed to do next? We will have to seek dialogue with organs like the Judiciary and Office of the Attorney General to sort out the legal issues then bring on board other stakeholders to have discussions about the boundary delimitation vis-à-vis the timelines to the General Election, which are very tight,” he said.

He said a decision has to be made on whether to undertake both exercises at the same time or focus on planning and executing the 2027 polls.

Ethekon promised to work closely with the secretariat to understand the extent to which they had begun the preparations for the elections and what needs to be taken forward.

On budgeting, Ethekon said this would require them to engage with the Parliament and the National Treasury to agree on the right allocations for smooth elections.

The last three candidates for the position, Lillian Wanjiku Manegene, Robert Akumu Asembo and Saul Simiyu Wasilwa, will be interviewed today.