Civil society protest slow probe on NGO board chair credentials
NGOs Coordination Board executive director Fazul Mahamed, who was on October 19, 2016 sent on compulsory leave by Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- They claimed Mr Mahamed was fraudulently recruited into his current position using forged documents.
- Mr Suba was speaking while presenting the petition at Integrity House.
Civil society on Tuesday gave a seven-day ultimatum to the anti-graft agency to release the findings of investigations into the academic qualifications of NGOs Coordination Board chairman Fazul Mahamed.
Activists have demanded that Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO Halakhe Waqo expedite the probe into the authenticity of Mr Mahamed’s degree from Egerton University.
The organisations, under the Civil Society Reference Group umbrella, have threatened to take legal and administrative actions against the agency.
They claimed Mr Mahamed was fraudulently hired using forged documents and false information and is not fit to hold the post according to the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity set out in Article 10 of the Constitution.
“Mr Fazul Mahamed was admitted to Egerton University to pursue a bachelor's degree in Agriculture, which he later changed to Bachelor of Science, he was discontinued at the beginning of his third year on academic grounds and did not, therefore qualify for the degree award as he claims,” said Churchill Suba, the Civil Society Reference Group convener.
Mr Suba was speaking when he presented the petition at Integrity House.
“The reason Kenyans established the EACC in 2011 was to ensure that it is independent in the discharge of its mandate but the Commission’s failure to act or make its findings public raises doubts as to its objectivity and impartiality,” he said.
