Renown activist Okiyah Omtatah made another milestone step in his quest for justice and adherence to constitutional provisions on Tuesday after his petition to stop parliament from nominating National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) commissioners was approved by the court.
According to Citizen Digital, the High Court declared that Parliament cannot nominate NCIC commissioners and that any appointment made is unconstitutional and void.
“An order is hereby issued quashing section 17(1) (a) and (b) of the National Cohesion and Integration-NCIC Act no. 12 of 2008 and the procedure for nominating commissioners of NCIC by the National Assembly under the First Schedule of the Act is unconstitutional and therefore invalid, null and void,” ruled justice Wilfrida Okwany.
Okwany in his ruling also affolirmed that the National assembly must function within the limits prescribed by the constitution.
Omtatah argued that parliament was overstepping its mandate by nominating NCIC commissioners, added that the process ought to be carried out by the Public Service Commission, and not Parliament.
According to Omtatah, the NCIC is not a constitutional commission and hence falls under the PSC and not parliament.
“Having regard to my observation and findings in this judgement and having considered the petition the constitution and law as well as the parties submissions and the authorities that they cited, I am satisfied that the petition raises a genuine constitutional grievances in so far as the role of the National Assembly in nominating commissioners to be appointed to the NCIC is concerned,” ruled the court.
The legal team representing the Nation Assembly argued that the NCIC act gives them powers to nominate commissioners for approval by the president.