The recruitment and subsequent appointment of Peter Gitaa Koria as Bomas of Kenya Chief Executive Officer has been questioned and termed as irregular.
Through a petition addressed to the Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala by a board member at Bomas of Kenya, the process is said to have been canvassed, preconceived, irregular, flawed and had a conflict of interest.
Chairman of the board Josiah Magut is said to have swept the allegations leveled against Gitaa, now the substantive General Manager under the carpet despite weighty issues put forth before the recruitment ad hoc committee.
Through the petition seen by The Informer authored by Layi Khamisi Jaber, an individual board member, he says Gitaa’s recruitment process lacked transparency and integrity and that it was irregularly done.
“On January 3, 2020, I wrote to Mr. Josiah Magut, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bomas raising several concerns regarding the process of recruitment of the General Manager/ CEO of the state corporation. I copied the letter to you amongst others. My letter was triggered by information in my knowledge but more significantly, what was shared with me by Mr. Magut himself and members of the ad hoc committee that had been formed for the recruitment.”
He added: “I petitioned him on the concerns that the process has serious flaws of integrity, transparency, conflict of interest and governance. It appears that the process was preconceived and designed to undermine constitutional provisions under Article 10 and Chapter VI on Leadership and Integrity Act. Specifically, there had been canvassing on a particular candidate who was to be the eventual choice.” The petition dated January 6, 2020 reads in part.
The said interviews were conducted on January 8, 2020 involving five candidates.
According to the petitioner, when he wrote officially to Magut, the board chairman requesting stoppage of the process, he says Magut maintained the recruitment exercise would continue and that some members of the recruitment ad hoc were summoned by the chairman through telephone calls.
Jaber says besides the dismissive letter from the chairman, he also received telephone calls from other ad hoc committee members intimidating him over his intervention to have the process halted.
“In one of those calls, I was notified that the chairman has the necessary board members on his side. I understood this to mean that, when the board meets, irrespective of the veracity of the allegations, predetermined decisions will prevail.” The petition reads in part.
This comes against the backdrop of a series of graft exposé by The Informer at the state owned facility adversely incriminating senior managers and a section of members of the board.
“I write to you seeking your intervention as Cabinet Secretary responsible for Tourism and the appointing authority for Bomas of Kenya Board Directors as well as for the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Bomas…Finally Waziri, this letter is to petition you that, given the circumstances of this recruitment process, you take the most appropriate action in the interest of safeguarding the constitution and public resources.” Jaber says.
The petition was also copied to Principal Secretary, State Department of Tourism, State Corporations Advisory Committee CEO, Magut and Gitaa.