MPs accuse Munya of playing politics with Kebs MD job

Seven months after Bernard Njiraini took the helm at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), Parliament has said his appointment violated the law.
The lawmakers are pointing an accusing finger at Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya for disregarding two interview reports that did not rank Mr Njiraini among the best candidates.
In the first interview conducted by Deloitte on March 13, 2019, Nixon Sigei emerged the best candidate, followed by Martin Chesire. Lukas Meso emerged third.
But Mr Munya, who was the CS for Trade and Industrialisation then, cancelled the recruitment through a letter dated May 20, 2018. He cited, among other reasons, discrepancies in the application of the selection criteria. He then directed the board to conduct a second interview.
In that interview, conducted by the National Standards Council in August 2019, Mr Njiraini emerged sixth with a score of 64 per cent.
Mr Geoffrey Karau emerged the best with 76 per cent followed by Nixon Sigei (74 per cent) and Martin Chesire (72 per cent), the council’s report showed.
“The council interviewed a total of ten of the 11 shortlisted candidates and I am pleased to present here below the top three candidates in order of ranking to enable you (to) appoint a substntative Managing Director for the organisation,” reads a letter to the CS signed by council chairman Ken Wathome.
Despite this, CS Munya, on August 30 last year, proceeded to appoint Mr Njiraini to replace Charles Ongwae, who is facing abuse-of-office charges.
Mr Ongwae was charged alongside 14 others in a tax-evasion swoop by the Kenya Revenue Authority at the start of last year.
Some of the Trade Committee members have accused CS Munya of playing politics with the appointment.
The lawmakers, who spoke to the Sunday Nation off the record as they are expected to meet with the current CS for Trade Betty Maina, said Mr Munya rejected Mr Sigei purely on political grounds.
“Deloitte is a renowned company worldwide and it placed Mr Korir as the best candidate — the reasons cited by CS do not add up,” said a lawmaker from the Rift Valley.
The MPs said Mr Munya allowed politics to play out in the appointment instead of focusing on merit.
The matter of Mr Njiraini’s appointment was brought to the floor of the House during question time by Kipkelion West MP Hillary Koskei.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi referred the issue to the departmental Committee on Trade and Industrialisation chaired by Kieni MP Kanini Kega.
When the committee convened on Tuesday, Trade Chief Administrative Secretary Lawrence Karanja maintained that the hiring was transparent.
He said the interview conducted by Deloitte was null and void and could not be used as a basis to challenge Mr Njiraini’s appointment.
But the committee’s vice-chairman Cornelly Serem (Aldai), Nixon Korir (Lang’ata) and Mr Koskei insisted that the recruitment and subsequent appointment was marred by irregularities.
“The position was readvertised for reasons that this committee must find out. Let merit be the shield for those seeking employment in government,” Mr Koskei said.
The MPs are puzzled at how a candidate who emerged sixth in the interview was appointed while the top three were left out.
The move, they said, violated Kebs’ human resources manual, which states that only the top three candidates should be forwarded to the CS for consideration.
The appointing authority, the manual directs, should also take into account the interview scoring sheets and the panel’s recommendations, which were ignored in this case.
Mr Kega said lawmakers will not relax until Kebs puts its house in order and acts according to the law.
“We are concerned (about) the negative publicity Kebs receives every day in the media. Kebs is an important entity in this country as it ensures that all goods that get into the country meet the standards,” Mr Kega said.


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