- Ruto encouraged all qualified Kenyans to respond to the clarion call to serve the nation.
- This, he said, is by making applications for the positions of chairperson and members of the respective commissions and offices once invitations to prospective applicants have been made.
Image: FILE
President William Ruto has appointed a six-member selection panel for the recruitment of nominees for appointment as chairperson and seven members of the Independent Police Oversight Authority.
The six include Arthur Osiya of the Executive Office of the President, Justice Msagha Mbogholi of the Judicial Service Commission, and Joyce Nyabuti of the Public Service Commission.
Others are Monica Wanjiru Muiru of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Raymond Nyeris of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and Caroline Naikena Lentupuru of the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC).
The president also appointed selection panels for the recruitment of nominees for the appointment of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, the Gender and Equality Commission and the Commission on Administrative Justice.
Ruto encouraged all qualified Kenyans to respond to the clarion call to serve the nation.
This, he said, is by making applications for the positions of chairperson and members of the respective commissions and offices once invitations to prospective applicants have been made.
Ruto also urged all Kenyans to exercise their civic duty by submitting memoranda on the suitability of the candidates who will be shortlisted by the respective selection panels.
The four commissions will be left vacant soon as the outgoing commissioners have already handed over their exit reports to President Ruto ahead of the expiry of their terms in September.
The handover of exit reports has set the stage for the recruitment process for their successors.
According to the Constitution, holders of constitutional commissions and independent offices serve for a non-renewable term of six years.
In the recruitment of SRC commissioners, the Parliamentary Service Commission, which is represented by political parties, is one of the nominating bodies.
Other nominating bodies include the Public Service Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission, the National Police Service Commission, the Defence Council and the Senate, on behalf of the county governments.
The provision contained in the SRC Act 2011, has been used to give the president a chance to reward political allies.
However, in the case of the chairperson, the process is done through a selection panel constituted by the President 14 days after the occurrence of a vacancy.
The chairperson Lynn Mengich and seven commissioners of SRC took office in September 2018.
This means that their terms will end next month, except for Abdullahi Abdi who was sworn in November 2021 and Phyllis Wambui Wagacha picked in 2023.
Other commissioners appointed by the President include Amani Yuda, John Monyoncho, Leah Mumbua, Margret Sawe, Elizabeth Muchiri, Peris Ashubwe
For the Gender and Equality Commission, the term of the chairperson Joyce Mutinda and commissioners Chomba Wa Munyi and Priscah Nyokabi ended on August 17.
Given that there was a staggered process in the recruitment of the commissioners, the terms of Caroline Lentupuru and Thomas Koyier will end on December 22, 2027.
The two took the oath of office on December 22, 2021.
According to the Gender and Equality Commission Act 2011, the commission consists of a chairperson and four other members recruited through a selection panel convened by the President.
In the IPOA, the membership of the board is appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly after a competitive process by the selection panel.
The outgoing board is chaired by Anne Makori, Walter Oweny, Doreen Muthaura, Fatuma Mohamed, Praxedes Toroney, Jonathan Lodompui and J.M Waiganjo.
The selection panel consists of the Office of the President, the Judicial Service Commission, the Anti-corruption Commission, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the Gender and Equality Commission.