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Airports boss sent on forced leave

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Kenya Airports Authority managing director George Muhoho. Photo/FILE 

By SAMWEL KUMBA Posted Wednesday, January 14 2009 at 21:26

Kenya Airports Authority managing director George Muhoho has been sent on compulsory leave two months before his contract expires.

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Mr Muhoho, a close ally of President Kibaki, was asked by the KAA board of directors to leave his post early.

It comes after the Efficiency Monitoring Unit (Emu) in the Prime Minister’s Office delivered a damning report on the goings-on at the authority.

The report covers the expansion work at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, among other things.

Another term

Sources familiar with operations of the authority said Mr Muhoho had asked for another three-year term, which would have taken his tenure at KAA to nine years if granted.

The managing director of the authority is appointed by the board, but the chairman is appointed by the President.

The practice recently has been for parastatal chiefs to serve a maximum two terms and then retire.

Highly placed sources within KAA told the Nation that Mr Muhoho’s request for a third term could not be granted because the Emu report is not favourable for him and his team.

Mr Muhoho has had an eventful tenure at KAA, during which the parastatal was turned into a profitable outfit, but there have also been questions about some of its undertakings.

Although it has been argued that Mr Muhoho’s enviable position in Government owes a lot to his near filial relationship with the country’s chief executive, he is on record refuting the claims.

He maintains that it has nothing to do with him being close to President Kibaki.

Amidst global terrorist threats and the so-called Armenian brothers who brought a security scare at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Mr Muhoho was grilled by a commission, which wanted to know how safe Kenya’s airports were.

Biggest challenge

Mr Muhoho is on record saying that the biggest challenge facing all international airports was security and Kenya was no exception.

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Add a comment (48 comments so far)

  1. Submitted by yesuwangu
    Posted January 16, 2009 07:23 PM

    Kibaki Should also do a Favour to Kenya just to Retire this year just like thambo Mbeki did.he will loose nothing.Life will go on and he will still be a senior member of state.their is no pride being a president Even Kufour,Bush are retiring peacefully

  2. Submitted by Wanjiku98
    Posted January 16, 2009 07:13 PM

    wuod_aketch, you are the greatest tribalist who ever existed in Kenya. Don't you realize that all these politicians are connected and work together in one way or another? Their children dine together, work together, socialize together and even marry each other. wuod_aketch, when you burn down Kenya, you might not have anywhere to run as a common man. Keep up your tribal mentality.

  3. Submitted by The_Reformer
    Posted January 16, 2009 01:02 PM

    OVERHAUL.Yes, Kenya need one and quick.Some dynamic minds need to come on the scene and PUT kenya's development first.Not his stomach but the big picture.The rule of law needs to be upheld,measures against corruption and AN OVERHAUL TEAM composed of young brights minds to restructure Kenya.Haya.

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