Former NHIF boss appointed devolution secretary
Former National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) chairman Simeon ole Kirgotty appointed devolution secretary. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Former National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) CEO Simeon ole Kirgotty has landed another lucrative government job following his appointment as devolution secretary in the ministry of Devolution and planning.
The position puts him at third in command in the country’s largest ministry.
“In my entire working career, I have served the people of Kenya in various capacities and I am thankful for this appointment which will be a bigger challenge in my career but I am ready for it,” he told Daily Nation.
Last week, on November 16, in a letter from the cabinet secretary ministry of health, Mr Kirgotty was informed that he was being “released to report to the ministry of devolution and planning with immediate effect…”
According to the letter, Mr Kirgotty’s appointment was an executive order of the Office of the President, an order that ends his “hanging” — a term in government circles that refers to being in the civil service without a specific job description — in the Ministry of health as Secretary II.
In February this year, Mr Kirgotty left the prime NHIF CEO position after the government failed to extend his three year contract. He was replaced by Geoffrey Mwangi leading to an outcry of another government appointment that was deemed to be tribal.
The action led to a protest by six MPs from the Maasai community — Kajiado West MP Moses Ole Sakuda, Ken Kiloku (Narok East), Patrick Ntutu (Narok West) and senators Stephen ole Ntutu (Narok), Henry ole Ndiema (Trans Nzoia) and Peter Mositet of Kajiado who termed his replacement as a “betrayal” of the Maasai community.
Mr Kirgotty had taken charge of NHIF in February 2013 after acting as the head since August 2012 when Adan Mohammed left the job.
Before that, Kirgotty had served as a director of administration at the then Ministry of Medical Services and enjoyed a celebrated career for bringing order to the marauding matatu sector as the Registrar of Motor Vehicles at Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) where he had worked for 13 years.
