PS faces probe over Muhoho’s influence

The succession battle at the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is headed to Parliament where the permanent secretary for Transport is expected to appear before the Transport committee.

Cyrus Njiru has been summoned to appear before the committee headed by Matungu MP David Were on Tuesday morning. In addition to fielding queries on the KAA succession saga, the PS is expected to answer questions regarding the goings-on at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) where the board has sent the managing director on leave.

Mr Njiru will be asked why outgoing KAA MD George Muhoho has not proceeded on terminal leave. The committee is also expected to ask Mr Njiru who set the qualifications for the MD’s job, the number of applicants and whether the process has been transparent.

The committee is also expected to request documentary evidence that all the applicants were properly vetted. Mr Muhoho is alleged to have interfered with the process to choose his successor as he was a member of the panel that interviewed the candidates seeking to replace him.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has called for the nullification of the recruitment exercise. The human rights body wrote a letter to the head of civil service demanding that Mr Muhoho proceed on leave pending his retirement.

KNCHR vice-chairman Hassan Omar Hassan also asked the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to investigate the recruitment process in which Mr Muhoho’s preferred candidate emerged at the top of the list. The commission said it had received a report alleging irregularities in the recruitment process for the MD. Mr Muhoho has denied influencing the selection of his successor.

The human rights body says that among the allegations facing Mr Muhoho is that he manipulated the recruitment process to favour his preferred candidate – KAA’s general manager for projects and engineering Stephen Mwangi Gichuki.

He is also accused of unilaterally advertising for the KAA MD position in Nairobi newspapers without reference to the authority’s board of directors. “That in so doing, Mr Muhoho allegedly violated procurement procedures as outlined in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 and acted in excess of his authority and mandate,” the letter states.

The outgoing MD is also accused of arbitrarily altering the list of candidates provided by the human resources consultancy firm, Manpower Services, by adding two names to the six that had been short-listed. “That in full view of the alleged interest Mr Muhoho had in the outcome of the process, and the potential conflict that might arise from the alleged interest, he sat through the interviews and allegedly influenced the decision of the panel,” the letter adds.

Mr Hassan noted that the interest Mr Muhoho had to “handpick” his preferred successor arose from allegations of financial impropriety and conflict of interest during his tenure that might occasion an independent investigation after he leaves. The commission wants the recruitment of the new MD put on hold pending the outcome of the proposed investigations.

“That Muhoho be asked to proceed on leave pending his retirement on April 2, 2010”, the letter, which is copied to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the KAA board chairman Martin Wambora and Muhoho himself, said. The parastatal carried out interviews last month, but those who had applied for the job have termed the entire process “flawed”.

Three names were picked by the board, including that of Gichuki. Others are the managing director of Nairobi Water Company Francis Mugo and the managing director of the Horticultural Development Authority Dr Alfred Serem.