'After a thorough analysis of the performance of the applicants, the panel submitted its report to the appointing authority. In its findings, the panel determined that it was unable to pick any names for nomination for appointment as Auditor-General'
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Kenyans will have to wait longer for the appointment of a new Auditor General after a panel constituted to consider 17 shortlisted applicants failed to find a suitable candidate.
Public Service Commission chairman Stephen Kirogo on Wednesday said the recruitment process will start afresh. He denied claims that President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected three names the panel had forwarded to him for consideration.
Kirogo said the panel was unable to identify a qualified candidate and communicated the same to Uhuru in their November 21 report.
Panel chairman Sammy Onyango said none of the shortlisted candidates met the strict criteria set by the interviewing panel.
“After a thorough analysis of the performance of the applicants, the panel submitted its report to the appointing authority. In its findings, the panel determined that it was unable to pick any names for nomination for appointment as Auditor-General,” Kirogo said.
“The government has now decided to re-advertise the position of the Auditor-General with immediate effect.”
Onyango said the candidates met the technical requirements including academic qualifications but scored poorly in the independence, diplomacy, and tact which were key considerations.
“Based on the set criteria, we were unable to make recommendations to the President because we could not find three candidates out of the 17 who were shortlisted. This was a very hard decision to make but it is better to make the right decision other than the wrong decision and we made that decision not to recommend anybody,” Onyango said.
Public Audit Act, 2015 requires the panel to submit names of three people for consideration for nomination and appointment as Auditor-General.
The position attracted 70 applicants of which 17 were shortlisted and interviewed.
Kirogo denied any political influence saying the decision to re-advertise the position was informed by the government’s commitment to have a competent and qualified person as the occupant of the crucial office.
“There are no politics here completely. All of us are looking for the most competent Kenyan to be the occupant of the office of the Auditor General,” Kirogo said.
The move to re-advertise the position means the earliest the country can get a substantive Auditor-General is April 2020.
The government will tomorrow put up re-advertisement for the position to allow Kenyans to apply. Applicants will have 14 days to do so.
This will be followed immediately by a call to nominating bodies to forward the names of their representatives to the new selection panel.
Panel for selection of nominees will be selected within two weeks after the closure of the application window and will take another 14 days to shortlist.
This will be again followed by interviews and selection of nominees which according to the Act should take a maximum of 30 days.
edited by p. obuya