•The announcement about the changes was made during a meeting last Thursday attended by KPA board members and Treasury officials.
•Commission for Human Rights and Justice (CHRJ)moved to court to challenge the appointment saying the KPA board did not have a quorum to make such an appointment.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
A Mombasa High Court on Wednesday halted the appointment of John Mwangemi as KPA's acting managing director pending the hearing of an application by a lobby group.
Mwangemi, a former Kenyan ambassador to Rwanda and Djibouti, was appointed on July 1 paving the way for his immediate predecessor Rashid Salim to proceed on retirement, after serving for 38 years.
The announcement about the changes was made during a meeting last Thursday attended by Kenya Ports Authority board members and Treasury officials.
However, Commission for Human Rights and Justice (CHRJ) moved to court to challenge the appointment saying the board did not have a quorum to make such an appointment.
This is after chairman Joseph Kibwana’s tenure lapsed.
Justice Ben Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of the rights group which had sought orders prohibiting Mwangemi from taking over as MD.
“An order is hereby issued quashing the decision of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents and executed by the 1st respondent on July 1 whereby the interested party was appointed the acting managing director of the 3rd respondent without following the due process of law,” read the order.
National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani is the first respondent, his Transport counterpart James Macharia the second and KPA the third.
Mwangemi is the interested party.
The lobby group argued that the recruitment was unfair and secretive.
Ongaya directed CHRJ to file and serve the substantive notice of motion within three days, which lapse on Friday.
He said the matter should be heard not later than July 22 as it was certified urgent.
However, the move by CHRJ has elicited angry reaction from Umoja Summit Party of Kenya chairman Matano Chengo, who said it was ill-intended.
Chengo accused the lobby group of being used by people against the appointment of persons from the Coast region.
“Is Mwangemi not a Kenyan who deserves an appointment just like any other qualified Kenyan?” Chengo posed.
He said this is a continuation of the marginalisation of the Coast region and its people.
“What interest does this human rights lobby group have in KPA? Is this the only facility that the lobby group focuses on? These are the tools being used to frustrate the people of the Coast,” Chengo said.
However, Julius Ogogoh from CHRJ said he is a Kenyan living in Mombasa and has the right to move to court whenever he feels he or any other Kenyan has been aggrieved.
“There are rights that people in this country enjoy,” Ogogoh said.
Chengo said the lobby group should have also been at the forefront in fighting against the take-over of all business in the transport sector from the people of the Coast by the SGR.
“Where was it when Coast residents were demonstrating against the sale of the port and killing of Mombasa businesses by the SGR?” Chengo posed.
Ogogoh said Chengo is free to counter sue.
Salim had served as the acting managing director at KPA since March last year.
He took over from Daniel Manduku, who resigned following graft allegations.
The authority has been without a substantive head since then.
Manduku had served for about two years after taking over from Catherine Mturi-Wairi in 2018.
Mturi-Wairi, the first woman KPA boss, was appointed in 2016 and she served until May 2018.
The KPA board has conducted two interviews for the position of MD, but Treasury CS Ukur Yatani rejected the names.
In March this year, the KPA board, led by chairperson Joseph Kibwana, interviewed six candidates and submitted three names to Yatani.
The CS ordered that fresh interviews be conducted.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris