Now churches oppose nominees for TSC jobs
What you need to know:
- Kibaki and Raila overlooked the best candidates, claims NCCK
Churches on Sunday opposed the nominees for positions in the Teachers Service Commission.
The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) said that by overlooking the most qualified candidates, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga had sent the wrong message to the country.
“We need to ask the hard questions, if merit is not considered in public appointments, and more so in the governance of education, what signals are we sending to the young ones working hard in schools?” NCCK’s secretary-general, Rev Peter Karanja asked.
The person picked for TSC chairman ranked second while three nominees earmarked as members were ranked fourth, fifth and seventh.
The selection panel led by educationist Dr James Kamunge ranked Kenya Institute of Education boss Lydia Nzomo at the top with 80.3 per cent while Mr Kiragu wa Magochi was second with 73.3 per cent.
“There are more questions than answers when the best candidates are overlooked,” Rev Karanja noted.
According to him, if merit was not a consideration, it should have been stated before interviews were done.
Although he said factors such as marginalised groups and the disabled should not be overlooked, he noted that they did not apply in the case.
Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia last week said the nominations adhered to the Constitution and represented regional balance.
On Sunday, Mr Kimemia said the panel did not recommend Dr Nzomo for the position because she had outstanding integrity issues currently being investigated by the anti-graft agency.
However, Dr Nzomo said she was not aware of such a thing and termed it as witch-hunt.
Mr Kimemia also denied claims that Mr Odinga was not consulted over the nominees to the Public Service Commission (PSC).
He said that the President and PM had agreed on all the names, but were still consulting on a suggestion that Public Service PS Titus Ndambuki be dropped.
“There is no controversy at all. We consulted with Mr Odinga and the only change to be made is that of replacing Mr Ndambuki with a different candidate,” Mr Kimemia told the Nation.
