New bosses set to change face of public sector

Mr Abdikadir Mohamed, a presidential adviser and member of the State Corporation Advisory Committee (SCAC). FILE PHOTO |

What you need to know:

  • Most of these positions were held by people who have fallen out of favour with the new regime.

The face of the public sector is set for a major change as the government moves to fill vacant top positions in state agencies.

In what has exposed heading public institutions as one of the most unstable jobs in Kenya, at least 15 chief executive positions in state agencies have fallen vacant since the Jubilee government took office in April.

Most of these positions were held by people who have fallen out of favour with the new regime.

It is a process that has affected hundreds of former top brass in government institutions and opened up opportunities for scores others, as lobbying for key appointments continues.

But in filling in the positions, the Jubilee government will have to grapple with achieving legal, gender and regional balance.

The recommendations of the taskforce on parastatal reforms chaired by Abdikadir Mohammed also present additional challenges in the appointment process, given its proposals to merge some parastatals and scrap others.

Among the agencies looking to fill their positions is the National Social Security Fund, whose chief executive was fired for “talking too much to the media”.

Almost all parastatals under the Ministry of Energy — KenGen, Kenya Power, Kenya Pipeline, Electricity Regulation Commission, and Rural Electrification Authority — are affected.

“The selection process is substantially completed but we cannot make any appointment now until we get the way forward from the President in view of the Abdikadir team’s recommendations,” Mr Josheph Njoroge, Energy Principal Secretary, said on phone at the weekend.

Top positions in Kenya Bureau of Standards, Kenya Meat Commission, Kenya Airport Authority and Capital Markets Authority are also vacant. So are executive positions in Vision 2030, Kenya ICT Authority and Kenya Railways.

Kenya Railways lost its managing director after Mr Nduva Muli was elevated to the position of Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Transport.

On Friday, Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau said the process to appoint a new managing director for the firm was almost complete. He promised to get the best suitable candidate.

“We are almost concluding the process of this appointment; the interviews have been held and recommendations have been sent to my office.

I am going through them, once we are through, we will appoint a substantive CEO for Kenya Railway,” Mr Kamau said.

At KAA, the search is on for a new managing director following Mr Stephen Gichuki’s departure after he was sent on terminal leave in August pending the end of his contract, which expires next week.

Mr Kamau said shortlisting of candidates is still going on, with interviews set to be conducted soon after.

Three weeks ago, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) started the process of replacing former chief executive Tom Odongo, who was sacked on July 22 under unclear circumstances.

Mr Kazungu Kambi, the Labour Cabinet Secretary, fired Mr Odongo without giving any explanation to the public in what came through as a classic show of successive governments reshuffling key appointments to suit their interests. He later said he sacked him for talking too much to the Press.

The Fund has now begun the search for the seventh managing trustee in just five years, highlighting the position as one of the most unstable appointments in the country.

Mr Kambi could not be reached on phone to shed light on the progress of the appointment process.

Kenya Power’s former managing director Joseph Njoroge was promoted to Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, which later fired Mr Selest Kilinda as KPC’s managing director over charges of nepotism.
Reported infighting within the Energy ministry has been blamed for the delay in filling the various vacancies in the industry.

Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohammed is expected to appoint a replacement to Ms Eva Oduor, who was fired from the position of managing director of Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) in August.

A top official in the ministry who sought anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press yesterday said applications for the job had been received and evaluation is set to begin next week.

Consultants tasked with the process are expected to start the evaluation process next week, with the appointment expected in one month.

There are also vacant positions in the recently formed Kenya ICT Authority, which drive all the government’s agenda in the ICT sector, the Capital Markets Authority and Vision 2030.

Even more changes are bound to follow if President Kenyatta adopts the recommendations of the taskforce on parastatal reforms chaired by Mr Abdikadir Mohammed.

The team, set up by President Kenyatta to review the operations of parastatals with a view to instil efficiency, has set high academic qualifications for chief executive officers and directors of State corporations in its report that, if adopted, could send home many officials heading these institutions.

In its recommendation, the taskforce has proposed that all chairmen of State corporation boards must have at least a master’s degree and up to 10 years’ experience in relevant fields, applying academic qualifications on directorships.

It also suggests that all chairmen of state corporations be required to have served a minimum term of five years in senior management positions while barring any person who has worked with a state corporation in the past five years from sitting on its board. 

“There is no single generic legislation that governs the recruitment and appointment procedures and processes leading to conflicting provisions and lack of clarity, which undermines the operational effectiveness of government-owned entities (GOE),” the report says.

Mr Mohammed’s team said these measures would cut a growing tendency of appointments being made on a political basis that has culminated in conspicuous absence of the necessary mix of skills and talent on the boards