The High Court has given Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) Monica Juma two days to file her response and submissions in an application filed by South Korean ambassador nominee Mwende Mwinzi.
The lawyer representing CS Juma told the court that he has not received instructions from her to file any submissions and had requested 14 days to allow him receive instructions from the CS and the Solicitor-General.
The lawyer told Justice James Makau that the matter raises serious questions of law and that within 14 days he will be able to get instructions on whether to ask the court to refer the matter to the Chief Justice to form a bench to determine the issue.
Mwinzi, through Prof Tom Ojienda, moved to the High Court on Monday to compel CS Juma to designate and post her to Seoul as the country’s envoy, saying she has complied with all the requirements for the position.
According to Mwinzi, she is a US citizen by birth and cannot renounce the foreign citizenship before taking up the position as recommended by the National Assembly’s Defense and Foreign Relations Committee.
President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated Mwinzi on May 2, but after vetting by Parliment MPs recommended her appointment on condition that she renounces her American citizenship.
Mwinzi’s lawyer, Ojienda, argued that the committee’s recommendation was unconstitutional and illegal since only a State office requires an appointee to hold Kenyan citizenship alone.
“The matter is of immense public importance. Raila Odinga supports the appointment of Mwende Mwinzi. The political will of baba is important,” said Prof Ojienda
