Narda Garcia was fired from her post as the CEO of the Social Security Board after the Senate Select Committee recommended to government that she be dismissed. Well she went down, but not out. Narda Garcia has struck back and she wants the senate report thrown out. This afternoon, court papers were sent from the law office of Elson Kaseke seeking judicial review of the decision of the Senate Special Select Committee.
The notice asks the court to declare that the Senate did not have the powers to appoint Select Committee with the power to investigate. The application also outlines 14 reasons why the Senate report should be declared illegal, arbitrary and offensive. Included in those are the assertions that Garcia was not represented by counsel, and was not allowed to see the special audit report and other documents the Senators used in coming to their final report. And as for the special audit by Mark Hulse, Garcia's attorneys also want that to be declared illegal.
The action also asks that the court find the report of the Senate unreasonable because its conclusions are speculative and contradictory and because, "it fails to explain why the Minister of Finance was not questioned by the committee." In closing, the application asks the court to quash the report and all its recommendations. Filed along with it is a hefty volume detailing those 14 points.
The Supreme Court sessions re-open on Monday and with the Chief Justice back in chambers, the judicial review should be heard expeditiously - though no date has been set.
It's a hard challenge by Garcia on a matter the Musa administration would have preferred dealt with behind closed doors. But, it appears, Garcia is determined to clear her name publicly and not be the made the sole scapegoat on this one.
And while Elson Kaseke's name was not affixed to the papers, the documents come from his office. It is notable because, as Solicitor General at the time, Kaseke was parliamentary counsel advising the same Senate Select Committee and his opinion is sampled throughout.
