MPs warn on delay to fill key State posts
Ugunja MP and Public Accounts (PAC) Committee chairman Opiyo Wandayi. The committee has warned that delay in appointing boards of directors and chief executives of key State corporations could derail the achievement of the government’s ‘Big Four’ agenda. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- PAC has warned that the public could lose billions of shillings as top managers of organisations without chief executives might engage in illegal deals.
- Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir said they will write to the Speaker to allow them seek audience with President Kenyatta on the matter which he said is urgent.
- National Gender and Equality Commission former chairperson Winfred Lichuma is yet to be replaced.
- The Salaries and Remuneration Commission is in limbo after the term of its members ended last year.
A parliamentary committee has warned that delay in appointing boards of directors and chief executives of key state corporations could derail the achievement of the government’s ‘Big Four’ agenda.
The National Assembly Public Investment Committee also warned that the public could lose billions of shillings as top managers of organisations without chief executives might engage in illegal deals.
Chairman of the committee and Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir said they will write to the Speaker to allow them seek audience with President Uhuru Kenyatta on the matter which he said is urgent.
STATE CORPORATIONS
“We will seek audience with the President and explain to him the risk of these State corporations without key persons in the decision making chain,” Mr Nassir said.
A report from the Directorate of State Corporations presented before the committee last week indicates that 69 State corporations do not have boards of directors. Of these, 30 are without substantive chief executives.
Although the report did not name all the affected companies, it lists the National Social Security Fund, the National Hospital Insurance Fund, Kenya Airports Authority and Kenya Ports Authority among those whose boards and management teams are not fully constituted.
National Gender and Equality Commission former chairperson Winfred Lichuma is yet to be replaced. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) is in limbo after the term of its members ended last year.
10 APPLICANTS
Meanwhile, the selection panels have started the process of filling positions in three constitutional commissions.
The Public Service Commission is seeking to fill the chairperson post to replace Prof Margaret Kobia who was named Public Service Cabinet Secretary, while the National Gender and Equality Commission and the Commission on Administrative Justice have to fill both the chairperson’s post.
In the PSC race, the selection panel on Wednesday bypassed former SRC chairperson Sarah Serem and her Transition Authority counterpart Kinuthia Wamwangi to shortlist only 10 applicants out of 112.
