A candidate for chairman of the Kitui County Public Service Board reacted angrily to an affidavit that declared him unfit for the job.
Francis Kiliku, who on Monday appeared for vetting before the Kitui assembly Appointments committee chaired by speaker George Ndotto, dismissed the contents of the affidavit as falsehoods.
The affidavit by Sammy Kisilu was read to Kiliku by assembly deputy clerk Lucy Waema. Kiliku once appeared to lose his cool and Ndotto had to interject and caution him against using unsavoury language.
The petitioner had in his seven-page affidavit asked Ndotto’s team to reject all the names of the six nominees presented by Governor Charity Ngilu for vetting as they lacked merit.
Kisilu said Kiliku, a retired Kitui KMTC principal, had performed poorly in interviews for chairman, coming last on the list.
It was not clear why he was preferred over other applicants, Kisilu said, adding that Kiliku did not have any training in human resources, a requirement for the job he sought. Kiliku said he had a degree in zoology and trained as a lab technologist.
He pointed out that he had undergone on-the-job training in administration and financial management as a senior officer in Kemri and KMTC, and would apply the knowledge if given the job.
Kiliku dismissed the affidavit by Kisilu as a fabrication. “Whoever came up with that should go back and research to get the truth,” he said.
Ndotto, however, told him that the committee only wanted him to respond to the allegations and promised that a fair decision would be made.
Answering a question from majority leader Peter Kilonzo on the bulging Kitui wage bill, Kiliku said he would carry out a staff needs analysis and recommend scrapping of all redundant positions.
“We will have to bite the bullet and decide on the staff members to exit. However, that will be done in consultation with the county executive and the approval of the county assembly,” he said. Kiliku said downsizing may largely affect non-professionals who fail to go back to school.
Kiliku said he was overqualified owing to the training he received not only as the pioneer principal of the KMTC Kitui campus but in other managerial positions in he served in the public service for 15 years before he retired.
After Kiliku’s grilling by the Ndotto committee next was research consultant Esther Kasyoka and Jane Kibati, who in 2017 unsuccessfully ran for Kitui Woman Representative.
Others who were vetted were Kitui county project monitoring officer Joseph Kyavoa, Kitui Central politician Benard Munyasya and former teacher David Munyao.
