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.
No comments:
Post a Comment