Cereal board sacking that never was

Confusion reigns at the National Cereals and Produce Board a week after Agriculture minister William Ruto announced the sacking of senior officers early last week. Questions are now being asked on who the Agriculture minister sacked. He, however, retained the board’s MD Prof Gideon Misoi.

The minister early last week announced changes at the board sending five out of six directors, and 14 out of 17 top managers on compulsory leave.

Despite Mr Ruto saying this was a move meant to contain rampant corruption in the grain sector and pave the way for free importation of maize, it has been established that the officers are still in office raising questions on the minister’s directive. He added that the positions of the sacked officers would be advertised.

Mr Ruto told Parliament on Wednesday that he was working on a restructuring programme after advise from a consultancy firm. He said the measures were a product of an audit carried out since October last year whose report he received last month. “We got the report from Deloitte and Touche and this formed the basis of the sackings,” he said in Parliament.

Also neither the names nor working stations of those who were sacked were given by the minister; further complicating the matter on whether there were sackings at all as officials at the ministry of Agriculture said they did not have any information on who was sacked.

Sources said the managers have vowed to move to court should the government push for their exit alleging that the minister was acting on a restructuring reform proposal carried by a consultancy firm some four years ago.

Mr Ruto on Thursday told the Nation that it was the board that sacked the employees and that he has the letters from the board. But NCPB public relations officer Kipserem Maritim said there were no sackings at NCPB. He said as part of restructuring, some departments have merged.

“The sending of the managers does not in any way involve maize scandal,” said Mr Maritim “the minister worked on an earlier restructuring programme that had been carried out by a consultancy firm in 2005 which was forwarded to the ministry of Agriculture”.

“For now there is restructuring process going on at NCPB,” he said. Asked if he knew those who were sacked, he said: “We don’t have the names but we have people who are retiring. If there are people to be sacked; it depends on the outcome of investigations that are being carried by the CID, KACC and the Efficiency Monitoring Unit.”

Those who were given their marching orders include the general manager in charge of operations, Mr Umba Osoro, manager in charge of research and development Mrs Pauline Ng’eno who also doubles as a personal assistant to the MD and security manager Mr Kimani Mureithi, the Nation learnt.

Others are the general manager in charge of marketing, the chief accountant, Mombasa depot manager Richard Wambua and his South Rift counterpart Mr Patrick Mwangi, the manager in charge of pest control department and the finance manager.

But insiders at NCPB said the managers were still in office. Mr Osoro was said to be out of office when the Nation tried to find out if he was still there. “He was here a while ago,” said an employee “call after some time”.

The public relations officer at the ministry of Agriculture Mr Sammy Wekesa said: “That is an issue concerning NCPB and we cannot comment. I don’t know them (those sacked). Maybe they are junior officers in the field. I will let you know after confirming from the minister”.

Mr Wekesa however promised to give a report later on the names of those sacked. It is also revealed that the new directors appointed by Mr Ruto are yet to take office. The minister had appointed Dr Adrian Wekulo Mukhebi, Mr Elias Barre Shill, Ms Rozaah Akinyi Buyu, Mr Mohamed Islam Ali and Mr Timothy Kipkorir Busienei.

They replaced Mr James Gitutho Njendu, Mrs Grace Wanjiku Maina, Mr Francis Wanyonyi, Mr Bernard Maingi Killu and Ms Beatrice King’ori. Mr Maritim said the new team would take office any time since they had been gazetted.

The board came to the limelight late last year when the country started experiencing a shortage of maize flour. It was alleged that suspected briefcase millers and businessmen were allocated 80,000 bags of maize valued at Sh150 million. There were also claims that the maize was exported to South Sudan.