•The complete circle until swearing in of new commissioners is expected to last 77 days
•The President should have named the selection panel within 14 days of the exit of the Swazuri-led team
President Uhuru Kenyatta has finally appointed a panel to search for the next commissioners at the National Land Commission.
The panellists are Kennedy Kihara from Cabinet Office, Steven Oundo (Architectural Association of Kenya member and also a former chair of National Construction Authority) and commercial and property law expert Esther Njiru Omulele.
The others are Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua, a National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) commissioner and Mairura Omwenga, an infrastructure/transport engineer and planner as well as University of Nairobi don.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 7 (2) and in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraph I of the First Schedule to the National Land Commission Act, I, appoint (above) to be members of the Selection Panel for the selection of nominees for appointment as chairperson and members of the National Land Commission,” Uhuru said in the April 23 Gazette notice published on Friday.
The appointment of the selection panel was made 63 days after the exit of the Muhammad Swazuri-led team on February 19. They had been in office for six years.
The law requires that the President kickstarts the recruitment process within 14 days of the commissioners leaving the office.
The first schedule of the NLC Act mandates the President to within 14 days to constitute a selection panel once vacancies arise in the office of member and chair of the NLC.
The panel will within seven days put out an advert calling for applications for the position and within 21 days after the expiry of the dateline, consider the applications, publish the shortlist and interview. They will thereafter shortlist two qualified applicants for the position of chairperson and 16 for members.
Upon the receipt of the names of successful applicants, the President, within 14 days, nominates the chairperson and members. The names will be forwarded to the National Assembly for vetting within 21 days.
If Parliament approves the names within seven days, they are forwarded to the President. The appointees' names are published in a gazette within seven days.
Had the strict constitutional timelines been adhered to, the new commissioners would be waiting to be sworn in.
The new commissioners are supposed to be in office 77 days after the exit of their predecessors.
edited by f. mwaniki