President Uhuru Kenyatta address the public during a past event. He has
made far-reaching changes in the parastatal sector, naming more than 350
appointees as he seeks to stamp his authority on the crucial sector at
the mid-point of his first term in office. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION
MEDIA GROUP
President Uhuru Kenyatta has made far-reaching changes in the
parastatal sector, naming more than 350 appointees as he seeks to stamp
his authority on the crucial sector at the mid-point of his first term
in office.
The list of board members seen by the Sunday Nation features
numerous new names, including a notably younger profile of officials,
but several political nominees are among those tipped to offer strategic
direction to state bodies.
The publication of the
names of new board members follows lengthy deliberations within the
government as the Jubilee administration effectively weeds out numerous
appointees of the Kibaki-Odinga grand coalition whose performance was
not seen as matching the objectives of the Jubilee government.
BIG NAMES
Among
key parastatals where Mr Kenyatta has introduced changes are the Kenya
Airports Authority and the Kenya Railway Corporation.
Big
names in the corporate sector are among those who have been asked to
join the Vision 2030 Delivery Board, which will be tasked with playing a
more prominent advisory role to the Presidency.
Kenya
Commercial Bank chief executive Joshua Oigara joins Safaricom CEO Bob
Collymore on the board where they will serve alongside Juliana Rotich,
the youthful technologist best known for her role in the Ushahidi open
source software development programme.
Others on the board include former ambassador Dennis Awori and General Motors chief executive Rita Kavashe.
The new changes will also see several parastatals being restructured or having their goals redefined.
An insider familiar with the process leading up to the formulation of the list said the Betting Control and Licensing Board had been asked to expand its role and, along the UK model, tap the growing resources in the betting sector to finance national sports teams.
An insider familiar with the process leading up to the formulation of the list said the Betting Control and Licensing Board had been asked to expand its role and, along the UK model, tap the growing resources in the betting sector to finance national sports teams.
The
explosion in interest in gambling and especially rising spending on
sports betting has resulted in the growth of the sector into a
multi-billion-shilling enterprise.
Among those picked
to the board are Chase Bank executive Paul Njaga and billionaire Chris
Kirubi’s daughter Maryanne Kirubi Musangi, who is also a banker.
Other
eye-catching changes have been made at the Kenya Airports Authority
where HR consultant Susan Kiama, the IT expert Isaac Newton Onyango and
lawyer Jacqueline Oyuyo have been picked as the President seeks to
consolidate his oversight over the airport authority, where a number of
major projects are ongoing to tackle stiff competition from Addis Ababa
and an emerging hub in Kigali, Rwanda.
Mr Thomas Nzioki
Kibua, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, has been
named to the Capital Markets Authority board.
Politicians
also feature on the list. Among those who have been rewarded are former
MPs Bifwoli Wakoli (Kenya Water Towers Agency), Wycliffe Osundwa (Kenya
Institute of Mass Communication), Simon Mbugua (NGO Coordination Board)
and Dickson Wathika (Athi Water Services Board). The widow of former
assistant minister Orwa Ojode, Mary Okeyo-Ojode, has been named to the
Lake Basin Development Authority Act board.
LENGTHY DELIBERATIONS
Among those named to the board of the Kenya Railways Corporation are former ambassador John Mutinda Mutiso.
The
insider, who took part in the drafting of the list, said the
compilation followed long deliberations between President Kenyatta and
Deputy President William Ruto.
Other than academic
qualifications and experience, other factors considered included gender,
ethnicity and special interest groups.
A number of people with disabilities were named to the boards.
The
source said the Jubilee administration had struggled to impose its
agenda on many arms of government due to the fact that numerous state
appointees were named in the dying weeks and months of the grand
coalition and that the latest nominations, which follow an earlier set
named in March, were designed to cure that.
The
President was also engaging in an effort to handle the many “governance
and corruption” issues, which had been raised by the public, media and
various state organs.
PARENT MINISTRIES
The
source said that with the new changes, the Presidency will take a
keener interest in the performance of parastatals although they directly
fall under parent ministries.
It is expected that
board chairmen will be named in the next few weeks, although that list
is understood to be dominated by political appointees to a larger extent
than the latest names, which are contained in a special Gazette notice
dated October 2.
Journalists and athletes are among those who have been given the role of marketing Kenya as part of the new changes.
Royal
Media Services chief executive Wachira Waruru has been appointed to the
board of the Kenya Cultural Centre alongside thespian Ted Muthusi, East
African Breweries executive Eric Kiniti and a longtime supporter of the
theatre Millicent Ogutu.
Citizen television anchor
Julie Gichuru and well known athlete Paul Tergat will both serve on the
Brand Kenya board of directors.
Mr Tergat has also been named to the Board of Tourism Finance Corporation.
Prominent
radio personality and commentator Caroline Mutoko and Citizen TV’s
Farida Karoney will serve on the board of the Kenya Institute of Mass
Communication.
The latest appointments are expected to
be the first in a raft of changes expected throughout the government in
the months to come although no timelines were available for the release
of the new names.
Click here to download full list.
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