• Ngilu said all the nominees she presented to the assembly were qualified for the roles.
• She described the action by the ward representative as unjustified and punishment to Kitui people.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
Kitui MCAs were dishonest in rejecting nominees to the County Public Service Board, Governor Charity Ngilu has said.
Ngilu said all the nominees she presented to the assembly were qualified for the roles.
She described the action by the ward representative as unjustified and punishment to Kitui people.
Ngilu picked Francis Kiliku to chair the board and Esther Kasyoka, Joseph Kyavoa, Benard Munyasya, Jane Kibati and David Munyao as members.
But during a special sitting on Wednesday, the MCAs unanimously locked out the nominees on grounds of insufficient training or experience and other ethical issues.
Ngilu read malice and political expedience in the decision of the assembly.
The county chief told journalists on Saturday that all the nominees scored highly in the interviews held by the Appointment Committee chaired by Speaker George Ndotto.
“Time has come for people to be more honest. This is the era of transparency and people are no longer fed to obvious lies any more. This will come to haunt some people because they think punishing Kitui is helping the score politically but it is nay,” Ngilu said.
She advised the Kitui MCAs and Ndotto to ensure efficient service delivery to the people as opposed to destructive political sideshows.
Ngilu said the rejection of her nominees would not add political mileage to the MCAs.
She noted that she was not elected governor on party lines but on her scorecard.
During the heated debate on Wednesday, MCA for Tharaka Fredrick Nthuri said the decision by the assembly was a clear indication that the appointing authority had picked persons not qualified to serve in the board.
In the initial motion, the committee on appointments proposed to have Kasyoka, Kibati and Munyasya approved but the other three dropped.
The motion was moved by Majority leader Peter Kilonzo on behalf of the committee chaired by Ndotto.
The assembly shot down an amendment motion by Mbitini MCA Nicholas Mwalali that proposed having all six CPSB nominees approved.
Mwalili argued that it would be unfair to reject the nominees as they had surpassed the pass mark set by the vetting team until other considerations were invoked.
(edited by o. owino)