MCAs have once again rejected Governor Mike Sonko's nomination of lawyer Philip George Kaingu as the secretary of the County Public Service Board.
Kaingu had been nominated to the position in July but was rejected by the ward representatives who said he lacked the required qualifications.
In its report tabled before the assembly, the Labour and Social Welfare Committee recommended rejection of Kaingu's nomination saying he did not meet the requirements since he is not a Certified Public Secretary, a qualification of the Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board.
But Sonko again nominated Kaingu for the same position on September 8.
And on Thursday last week, the committee again rejected the nominee in a report that was adopted by the house.
“Section 10 of the Public Appointments (County Assembly Approval) Act, 2017 provides that upon rejection of a nomination, the nominating authority shall not resubmit the name of a candidate whose nomination has been rejected by the County Assembly unless the circumstances relied on for the rejection of the appointment of the candidate did not exist or ceased to exist at the time of rejecting the nomination of the candidate,” the report says.
Committee chairman Anthony Ngaruiya said Kaingu also failed to appear before the committee on October 5 for vetting despite having been invited and collecting vetting forms. He also submitted clearance documents.
Kaingu was expected to take over from Susan Waweru, who has been serving in an acting capacity. The office became vacant last year when Meshack Guto's term ended.
Meanwhile, the assembly approved the nomination of Jack Babji Owino as a member of the County Public Service Board.
Owino had also been nominated twice by Sonko but was initially rejected. He had failed to appear for vetting in March, because he had been bereaved.
“The nominee mentioned that on the day of the vetting back in July, he was out of town due to unavoidable family duties that he had to attend to. Although he presented his papers later but was rejected due to the time limits,” the report says.
Minority leader Michael Ogada said the County Public Service Board now has a quorum that allows it to operate.
The county had halted the recruitment of constables because the team was not properly constituted.
“It is unfortunate that people lined up for interviews, qualified but never received acceptance letters just because the board was facing technical issues. The board should now not give excuses in terms of operations because it is now constituted with a quorum, “Ogada said.
Kayole South MCA Fredrick Okeyo said Owino had surpassed the committee’s expectations.
“As a committee, we did our work. Having experience of over 15 years of work, the nominee was fit for the position," he said.
Edited by P.O
