The delayed full board meeting by directors of Bomas of Kenya will be held tomorrow as chairman Josiah Magut’s third three years tenure comes to an end.
The Informer has learnt among the key agenda of the anticipated highly heated session will dwell on controversial contracts of the Sh300million perimeter wall and Sh96million renovation works at the auditorium which was inflated from the initial cost of Sh86million.
“Yes the full board meeting will be held on May 4, 2022. Issues touching on procurement, internal audit and unexplained expenditures through controversial contracts are expected to be discussed.” Our source intimated.
Magut has been the board chairman for three terms now and The Informer has established he’s busy pushing for a fourth term through the office of the Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
His term will lapse on Friday, May 6, 2022.
However, our investigations have established that the office of the General Manager, Peter Gitaa Koria has already booked and committed expenditures for Magut to attend the Africities Summit to be held in Kisumu beginning May 17 to May 21, 2022 week after his mandate at Bomas of Kenya expires.
Africities is a Pan Africa conference that is convened by the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa’s (UCLG-A) and brings together the leadership of cities and sub national governments and their associations for the advancement of decentralization and local governance aimed at improving the living standards of the citizens.
Africities Summits have been held every three years since 1998 when the first meeting was held in Abijan, Ivory Coast. Other Cities to host the summit include Johannesburg-South Africa, Dakar-Senegal and Marrakech-Morocco (twice).
The Summit was initially scheduled on 26 to 30 April 2022 but the dates were revised to this month.
During tomorrow’s full board session, directors are also set to take the General Manager to task over ongoing outcry by the Bomas of Kenya staff over alleged intimidation and senior managers serving in acting capacities without substantive confirmation in their respective dockets.
Previously, a board member challenged the recruitment and subsequent appointment of Gitaa as the General Manager through a petition to Balala terming his appointment irregular.
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.” The petition reads in part.
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.