Labour Court to hear petition challenging NCIC CEO recruitment process

A Labour Court will hear a petition challenging the interview process and recruitment of the Chief Executive Officer of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) on Wednesday next week.

Justice Hellen Wasilwa certified the matter as urgent and directed that the petition be served to NCIC.

NCIC is expected to respond once served.

Mohamed Tache Dida filed the motion on March 25 seeking to stop the interviews for the position of Secretary/CEO of the NCIC that was ending today (March 27).

He also sought an order to suspend the process of filling the said position.

The commission placed a newspaper advert on January 21, inviting qualified persons to apply for the position of CEO with a submission deadline of February 4.

In his court documents, Dida claims to have applied for the position after seeing he ticked all the boxes that the commission indicated as the apparent requirements or qualifications for the position.

He claims that the commission allegedly introduced on its website additional higher qualifications that are neither indicated in the vacancy notice to the public nor are provided in the NCIC Act.

"The decision requirement automatically discriminated against and locked out of the recruitment process of Kenyans who would be otherwise qualified under the constitution and the law," he claims.

"NCIC, being a public body, is expected to be transparent in the recruitment process of its CEO, but to date, no information on the number of applicants or the shortlisted candidates has been made public. The decision requirement automatically discriminated against and locked out Kenyans who would otherwise qualify under the constitution and the law," he states in court documents.

He further argues that, as a public body, the NCIC is expected to conduct a transparent recruitment process, yet no details regarding the number of applicants or shortlisted candidates have been made public.

Dida contends that the process is unconstitutional and lacks transparency.

He also claims that there was no public participation regarding the minimum experience requirement of 18 years and that there has been no amendment to Section 20 of the NCIC Act to increase this threshold.

"I received information that about 68 people applied for the position. My legitimate expectation was to be shortlisted and interviewed," he states.

According to his court papers, he later learned that the commission had sent interview invitations to selected applicants, with interviews scheduled between March 25 and March 27.

"The commission did not indicate in its advertisement that only shortlisted applicants would be contacted," he adds.

Dida has outlined his qualifications and professional experience in his petition, arguing that his 19-year career in public service, international development, and high-level program management makes him a suitable candidate for the role.

His experience includes serving as County Chief Officer at the County Government of Marsabit since May 2023 and as Principal Administrative Secretary and Head of the Governor’s Delivery Unit in Marsabit from August 2017 to April 2023.

"My professional journey has allowed me to navigate diverse, multidisciplinary, and multicultural environments, enabling me to lead government departments and implement complex, multi-donor, multi-sectoral projects," he states.