Sonko’s nominee for County Public Service Board secretary rejected

Governor Mike Sonko has been dealt a blow after ward representatives rejected his nominee for the Nairobi County’s Public Service Board (NCPSB) secretary.

MCAs vetted Philip Polland George Kaingu and found him lacking the requisite qualifications and experience.

This means Sonko has to get another nominee who, if approved, will join the chairman and a few others to complete the composition of NCPSB.

The board is charged with establishing and abolishing offices in the county public service and appointing holders of senior offices. It also develops and implements human resource policies and framework for the county government.

Sonko had on March 2 forwarded the name of Kaingu to the county assembly's Labour and Social Welfare committee for vetting.

The nominee was to replace Susan Waweru, who has been acting after Meshack Guto's term ended last year.

The Labour and Social Welfare committee tabled its report to the county assembly on July 2 recommending that Kaingu should not be appointed secretary to NCPSB.

The Geoffrey Ng’ang’a-led committee found him unsuitable as he is not a Certified Public Secretary "as required under Section 58(1)(c) of the County Governments Act, 2012”.

Kaingu was vetted on July 1 after which the committee met three times and found him unqualified.

The committee found that Kaingu, who is an advocate of the High Court and Bachelor of Laws degree holder, lacked experience to lead thousands of employees. He has been working in his own law firm with only four employees since 2013.

He admitted that he is not a Certified Public Secretary and does not hold a Master's degree. Section 58(1)(c) of the County Governments Act provides that the county public service board should comprise of a CPS of good professional standing nominated and appointed by the governor with the approval of the county assembly.

Kaingu told the committee the Kenya Accountant and Secretaries National Examinations Board (Kasneb) had exempted him from 13 units of Certified Service Secretary examination. He was to sit for the remaining five units by the end of next year.

 

- mwaniki fm