Four CEC nominees are not qualified: Nakuru Assembly

Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui. A committee has rejected four people he nominated for the County Executive Committee. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Ten people were nominated for the County Executive Committee positions.
  • After vetting, the Committee on Appointments rejected four of the nominees, saying they were unsuitable for the positions.

The Nakuru County Assembly on Wednesday rejected four of Governor Lee Kinyanjui's 10 nominees to the County Executive Committee.

The governor had promised to appoint a development-oriented Cabinet.

The Committee on Appointments rejected Mrs Halima Gababa Abdulahi (Youth, Gender, Culture and Sports and Social Welfare), Ms Lucy Wanjiku Kariuki  (Housing, Land and Physical Planning), Mr Raymond Kimutai Komen (Education, ICT and e-Government) and Mr Joseph Kiuna (Finance and Economic Planning).

ENDORSED

The Assembly committee said the four were unsuitable to hold the positions they were nominated for.

The Committee on Appointments is headed by Speaker Joel Kairo Maina, who was the former executive in charge of Infrastructure under former Governor Kinuthia Mbugua's administration.

Other members of the appointment committee are Mr Stanley Karanja (Leader of Majority), Mr Peter Palanga (Leader of Minority), Gilgil MCA Jane Ngugi, Kiptagich MCA Rose Chepkoech and Kabazi MCA Peter Mbae.

The committee also vetted six other nominees and endorsed them.

They are: former Kiambu Health executive Jonah Manjari Mwangi (Health), Dr Peter Evans Kiplang'at (Trade, Industry, Marketing and Tourism), Mr Lawrence Mwangangi (Public Service, Training and Devolution), engineer Joseph Irungu Mburu (Infrastructure), engineer Festus Kipkoech Ng’eno (Water, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources) and Dr Immaculate Njuthe (Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries).

AUTONOMY

The report on the vetting was tabled in the Assembly in the morning.

The rejection of the nominees comes in the wake of a last-minute meeting between Governor Kinyanjui and the MCAs on Tuesday evening.

The 78 Assembly members sent a strong signal of independence during the election of the Speaker, when it rejected Jubilee nominee Nelson Gaichuhie (former Subukia MP) and elected Mr Kairo.

Among the rejected nominees is Governor Kinyanjui's top aide and confidant Mr Komen, who is a former Chief of Staff under former Governor Mbugua’s administration.

Mr Komen played a key role in Mr Kinyanjui's campaigns for governor.

NOT QUALIFIED

He was rejected on grounds that he does not have the relevant academic and professional qualifications, knowledge and work experience to head the Education, ICT and e-Government department.

Mr Komen has a diploma in Banking, Finance and Economics. He is a graduate of the University of Nairobi and holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Strategic Management at the same university.

The committee also said he failed to respond to some of the pertinent issues relating to early childhood education.

However, the committee was not specific on what Mr Komen did not respond to.

EXPERIENCE

Ms Gababa was rejected on grounds she lacks requisite knowledge and experience related to the Youth, Gender, Culture, Sports and Social Welfare docket.

"She was unable to tackle key departmental topics raised by the committee," reads part of the report.

The committee found that Ms Gababa that her academic and professional qualifications are not relevant to the position.

She is a PhD student pursuing Development Studies at St Paul's University, Nakuru Campus, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health degree from Mt Kenya University.

Ms Wanjiku, a former senior engineer at Kenya Pipeline Company, was rejected as she "lacks relevant academic and professional qualifications experience and exposure" required for the position of Housing, Land and Physical planning CEC.

Mr Joseph Kiuna, a former CEO of Britam Insurance Company, was rejected on a number of reasons, including his "low knowledge on budget policy and County Allocation of Revenue Act".

Earlier, Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama filed a petition at the High Court in Nakuru to block the vetting of the nominees.