Fred Matiang’i on the spot over Fazul Mahamed’s case
NGOs Coordination Board executive director Fazul Mahamed. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
In a suit filed against Dr Matiang’i by activist Okiya Omtatah, Justice Hellen Wasilwa issued a temporary order pending the hearing and determination of the case.
Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has been accused of contempt of court by civil society organisations.
The organisations criticised Dr Matiang’i for failing to bar NGO Coordination Board Executive Director Fazul Mahamed from conducting affairs of the board despite a court order issued three weeks ago. The group now wants Dr Matiang’i and Mr Mahamed committed to civil jail for failing to obey a court order.
CONTRACT
On December 7, the Employment and Labour Relations Court stopped efforts aimed at renewing or extending Mr Mahamed’s contract as the executive director of the board.
In a suit filed against Dr Matiang’i by activist Okiya Omtatah, Justice Hellen Wasilwa issued a temporary order pending the hearing and determination of the case.
Mr Mahamed’s contract ended on November 23.
In a statement, Civil Society Reference Group Presiding Convener Suba Churchill said Dr Matiang’i had not acted on the court order three weeks down the line, claiming that Mr Mahamed was still in office. “Mr Mahamed is a stumbling block to the operationalisation of the Public Benefit Organisations Act that was assented into law by then President Mwai Kibaki,” he said.
Mr Churchill termed it ironical that Dr Matiang’i had been in the frontline fighting academic frauds who used fake academic certificates to get into office or appointed into public service yet had failed to deal with Mr Mahamed whose academic qualifications had also been questioned.
