For four hours, MPs engaged the last batch of President William Ruto’s nominees in an exercise likely to go into annals of history.
That is if the two nominees, who are on the brink of becoming the first women MPs to hold the dockets they have been nominated to, get the nod.
Dorcas Oduor – a top female legal mind in the country – and Beatrice Askul are steps away from being the first Attorney General and minister from Turkana, respectively.
They appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments which is determining their suitabilities to serve in the offices.
The Committee is chaired by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.
Taking the hot seat minutes after midday on Friday, Oduor showcased her portfolio, which included prosecuting high profile cases as well as being part of task forces whose findings altered the governance space.
Amongst cases the AG nominee has prosecuted include the 1998 Nairobi bombing, that led to the death of 200 people and the Chris Okemo extradition case.
Oduor also served in the Police task force that birthed the Independent Police Oversight Authority.
Findings also led to the merger of the police formations under one command– Administration police and National Police.
Fielding questions from the vetting panel, Oduor promised to bring to an end the culture of government losing millions of shillings as a result lost court cases.
Cases are lost because of bad representation or error in judgement.
“If I am losing a case because I have a bad case, it would be my responsibility to look at the cases and mitigate the risks before I go to court,” Oduor said.
She was responding to a question by majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah who had sought to know measures she will put in place.
“Government has lost a number of cases due to the caliber of staff; total number of judgments lost against government is running into trillions. What will you do?” posed Ichung’wah.
Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda sought the nominee's comment on the gender rule that has remained a mirage in most government institutions.
“This law is clear that one gender should not be more than two-thirds. I will be cautious to comment before I see what is before Parliament,” she responded.
Oduor will not shy away from facilitating constitutional reviews - if confirmed as AG.
“We are now ripe to look at what is working and what is not working,” she stated.
The nominee declared her net worth as Sh85 million, made of land, houses and a car.
The vetting panel put Ruto's East African Community nominee to task over the gaps in her education.
This was after it emerged that Askul enrolled for Degree after completing her Certificate course.
The former Turkana CEC said she enrolled for a Certificate course before proceeding to Catholic University of East Africa, where she did her first degree.
Kilifi North MP Owen Baya asked the nominee to come clear on the gaps.
“When we were reporting to Form 4, we were told the Fund has come to an end for political reasons. A number of us were affected, I stayed home for nine months because of finances. I then registered myself privately in Kitale,” Askul explained.
“I then went CUEA and graduated with my first degree. I am now pursuing my Masters in Governance and Ethics... I am through with theory now awaiting graduation.”
Ordinarily, one who failed to attain the minimum university requirement must pursue a diploma course to qualify for a Degree course.
In her response, Askul said she took an extra year to compensate for the missing diploma.
“I took a course that was examined by KNEC... I had not done diploma. I would have reduced my degree to three years and because I went for four years, that was meant to take care of the diploma.”
The former ODM election chief also defended her Sh100 million worth.
She denied unduly benefitting from the county coffers during her reign as Water Chief Executive Committee Member, saying she earned every cent.
“I am from a cultural community; there is nothing under my name. It (the Sh100 million) is not cash. It is a property we have. My husband has worked; he has been out of the country for 17 years,” she said.
The nominee also pledged to safeguard Kenya’s interests in the East African Community and check the proliferation of goods into the local market through free movement of goods in the region.