CMA to get new leader after 2013 General Election

• Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman Kung’u Gatabaki said if the CMA board is given the go-ahead to restart the process of recruiting candidates for the position, the procedure may start after about six months
• He said the authority is still waiting for communication from the Finance minister on the next course of action regarding the hiring of a substantive CEO
• A substantive chief executive officer would have his or her plate full, given the reforms the authority has initiated to strengthen governance mechanisms in listed companies, restore confidence in the capital markets, steer the listing of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on the bourse as well as streamlining the capital markets in East Africa

The Capital Markets regulator is likely to have a substantive chief executive after next year’s General Election.

Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman Kung’u Gatabaki on Tuesday said the authority had not received any feedback or communication regarding the process of appointing a substantive chief executive officer after former chief executive Stella Kilonzo opted not to have her contract renewed at the end of her four-year tenure on June 30.

Mr Gatabaki said if the CMA board is given the go-ahead to restart the process of recruiting candidates for the position, the procedure may start after about six months, which means that the process could begin after the March 2013 General Election.

“Until such a time that we shall receive further communication from the Finance minister (Mr Njeru Githae), there’s nothing we can do at the moment,” Mr Gatabaki said on the sidelines of the Capital Markets Master Plan Steering Committee launch at CMA offices in Nairobi on Tuesday.

He said the authority is still waiting for communication from the Finance minister on the next course of action regarding the hiring of a substantive CEO.

The current officer bearer, Mr Paul Muthaura, has been in an acting capacity since June. He was not among those who applied for the position.

On September 24, Constitutional and Judicial Review judge Cecilia Githua ordered Mr Githae to stop any fresh recruitment of the regulatory body’s chief executive.

The court also barred the minister from meddling in the appointment process, apart from making recommendations to the President, as he had no other powers under the CMA Act.

Made it to the short list

Mr Githae had said that a fresh interview to choose the chief executive be undertaken after he alleged that the three candidates — Ms Wanjiku Mugane of Standard Chartered Securities, CMA director, corporation secretary and communication, Ms Rose Lumumba and Afrika Investment Bank chief executive Paul Mwai — who made it to the short list did not meet the Treasury’s requirements.

A substantive chief executive officer would have his or her plate full, given the reforms the authority has initiated to strengthen governance mechanisms in listed companies, restore confidence in the capital markets, steer the listing of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on the bourse as well as streamlining the capital markets in East Africa.

On Tuesday, the authority unveiled a 16-member committee drawn from different stakeholders in the capital markets to spearhead a reform process of the financial markets.