State cedes CAK board control with hiring of seven directors

ICT secretary Fred Matiang’i. Photo/Salaton Njau 

By OKUTTAH MARK

In Summary

• The seven include media scholar Levi Obonyo, former Kenya Film Commission chief executive Peter Mutie and lawyer Kennedy Nyaundi.
• Others are Wilbert Choge, Grace Munjuri, Hellen Kinoti and Beatrice Opee, who was in the disbanded board of the communications regulator.
• The composition is meant to reduce government clout in the board of the regulator in line with the Constitution’s requirement for an independent CAK.

The government has ceded control of the communication regulator’s board, following Friday’s announcement of new directors.

ICT secretary Fred Matiang’i named seven directors from a list of 14 given to him after competitive hiring by an independent panel to serve as directors of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) .

The seven include media scholar Levi Obonyo, former Kenya Film Commission chief executive Peter Mutie and lawyer Kennedy Nyaundi.

Others are Wilbert Choge, Grace Munjuri, Hellen Kinoti and Beatrice Opee, who was in the disbanded board of the communications regulator.

The 12-member CAK board will now have three government representatives, a director-general, a chairperson hired through a competitive process and picked by the President.

The composition is meant to reduce government clout in the board of the regulator in line with the Constitution’s requirement for an independent CAK.

The previous communications agency board comprised State appointees, including three PSs.

“In appointing the new board, I placed a premium on merit, integrity and competence besides picking young and agile professionals,” Mr Matiang’i told the Business Daily on Friday.

The composition of the CAK board is, however, incomplete because President Uhuru Kenyatta is yet to name the chair despite being time barred.

President Kenyatta is expected to announce the chairman within 14 days of receiving three names from the selection panel.

John Kariuki, Nerbet Muriuki and Ben Gituku were the three shortlisted candidates whose names were presented to the President in April.

The shortlist kicked up a storm over tribal bias. Mr Gituku served as chair of the Communications Commission of Kenya, which was renamed the CAK, and is said to be the front runner.

The previous CCK board was made up of nine non-executive directors, four of whom were appointed by the Information minister, the chairman tapped by the President and three PSs.

This composition led the Court of Appeal to block the move by CAK to switch off analogue television signals on grounds that the board of the regulator was not independent as required by Section 34 of the Constitution.