Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has been dealt a big blow after MCAs unanimously rejected his nomination of Jairus Musumba as the county secretary.
In a damning report tabled before the county assembly, the county legislators said Mr Musumba lacks academic qualifications to serve as the county secretary.
“The nominee lacks suitable academic and professional background and qualifications to serve in the position of the county secretary having spent almost the entire his academic work and work experience in the field of public health,” read in part the report by the Committee on Appointment.
While tabling the report, Majority Leader Peter Imwatok said the nominee has been in office illegally after serving for close to two years in acting capacity which is more than the recommended six months in line with the Section 10 of the Public Service Commission Act.
“The assembly has been carrying out its activities efficiently by passing all the county officers. We do not want to be part of an illegality in this county. The nominee has been in that office for two years and he has misadvised previous governors in this county leading to chaos and confusion in service delivery,” Mr Imwatok said.
Minority Leader Anthony Kiragu said the nominee had failed to adequately respond to questions asked by the assembly’s Committee on Appointment.
“We have looked at the history of the nominee and we have made a choice to reject his nomination. He has been the Chief Officer for a long time and his contract ended in November last year but Mr Sakaja appointed him illegally so he can take the position of the county secretary. We do not want to be part of an illegality,” Mr Kiragu said.
During the vetting held at City Hall, Mr Musumba was put to task to explain how a parcel of land belonging to the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company was grabbed at Eastleigh.
Mr Musumba denied any knowledge of the piece of land in question even as the city MCA’s pressed him to explain the circumstances surrounding the loss of county land.
Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Ken Ngóndi directed Mr Sakaja to make another appointment of the acting county secretary within a period of seven days. The person appointed should not be Mr Musumba.
According to the County Governments Act, the county secretary is the Head of County Public Service and is the responsible for the operations of the county executive.
He regularly communicates decisions of the executive to the relevant authorities. Mr Musumba had been nominated following a series of interviews carried out on fourteen candidates who had expressed interest in the position.
He has previously served in the regimes of former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, former Nairobi governor Ann Kananu and the current governor Johnson Sakaja.
A county secretary must be a chief officer according to county regulations. In November last year, Mr Sakaja had appointed his as a Chief Officer without portifolio in anticipation that he would appoint him as the county secretary.
He has served in acting capacity as the county secretary for a period of two years which is against Section 34 [3] of the Public Service Commission Act, No. 10 of 2017 that dictates that public officers should serve in acting capacity between one month and up to a maximum period of six months.
