The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning has approved the nomination of Mary Wanyonyi as the chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Authority.
Wanyonyi was vetted for the position on Thursday, June 22, where she pledged to focus on enhancing the country's own revenue generation if she was considered for the job.
She told the MPs that a weak revenue collection system has become a challenge as cash collected manually always ends up in the wrong hands.
"Weak collection system had become a challenge. It is very important that revenue management is automated. This is an area I have personally been involved with. In our land department what we did is automation. As a result of this, the state department for Lands has 80 field stations that collect revenue," she said.
The Committee's report following the vetting was submitted to the House on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the Departmental Committee on Labour has rejected the nomination of Phyllis Wambui Wagacha as a member of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
In the report tabled before the House, the Committee cited her age, saying 75 years is above the mandatory retirement age for public services as per her nominating body.
"To this end, the Committee notes that the nominee is not suitable to hold the position of a member of SRC on account of age," the committee said.
It however noted that she qualified in the other areas, being an upstanding citizen with no integrity issues and having demonstrated the knowledge needed to hold the position she had been nominated to.
Section 80(2) of the Public Service Commission Act 2017 however gives grounds for engaging a public officer.
It states;
"Despite subsection (1)(b), the Commission or other appointing authority may engage the public officer for service after the retirement upon such terms of contract as may be agreed if (a) the public officer possesses rare knowledge, skills and competencies for the time being required in the service;(b) the retired officer is willing to be engaged on contract; and(c) the retired public officer's performance shall not in any way be impaired by age."
The nominations were made by President William Ruto and he can formally appoint them only if the House recommends so after the vetting process.
If the committee reports are adopted by the National Assembly as they are, Wanyonyi will ascend to her nominated position while Wagacha will not.
