CA board row intensifies as new case is filed

Communications Authority Chairman Ngene Gituku (right) and Director General Francis Wangusi (left) at the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day event hosted by the body at the Laico Regency hotel on May 17, 2016. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Secretary General of the ICT Association of Kenya, Adrian Kamotho Njenga, is seeking disbandment.

The battle surrounding the appointment of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) board is back in court.

The Secretary General of the ICT Association of Kenya, Adrian Kamotho Njenga, wants the board disbanded on grounds that the board selection contravenes the Constitution and the Information and Communications Act.

Mr Njenga, who was also behind the suit that led to disbandment of the previous board, filed the new application on May 20.

The application said the law mandatorily obligates the respondent to ensure that not more than two-thirds of the members are of the same gender when selecting, shortlisting and appointing members of the CA board.

Mr Kamotho says the CA board comprises 10 male and only two female members; namely Ms Kentice Tikolo, the managing director of Impact Africa and Ms Patricia Kimama the head of cash management and e-channels at Commercial Bank of Africa.

'NOT CONSIDERED'

The applicant states that no candidate from the legally recognised body of ICT professionals was considered despite meeting the appointment criteria.

“In totality, the actions of the respondent are hostile to the rule of law, an affront to the bill of rights and a grave atrocity to the letter and spirit of the Constitution,” said the application filed at the High Court’s constitutional and human rights division.

The matter was certified as urgent by the High Court and is set for hearing on June 3. The CA and ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru are expected to file their response.

The board members; Levi Obonyo, Paul Kukubo, Mugambi Nandi, Kentice L Tikolo, Davis Cheruiyot Kitur, Christopher Guyo Huka and Patricia W Kimama will also be served with copies of the application.

Mr Njenga was among 28 applicants who applied for the board membership position.

He however did not make it to the final list of seven members who took over office.

The board was gazetted by Mr Mucheru and appointed into office, "for a period of three years with effect from April 29, 2016".

Justice George Odunga on May 29 last year, quashed the gazette notice appointing the former board, affirming Mr Njenga’s petition that the board was formed outside the statutory timelines.

The disbanded CA board then began a series of court applications to retain their positions but failed.