The head of the Kenya National Audit office, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has dealt a severe blow to the newly appointed Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Daniel Kiptoo saying he is not qualified to hold the office in substantive position.
Gathungu said Kiptoo was confirmed as the DG without the requisite qualifications and therefore his appointment was irregularly done.
“A review of the applicant’s documents confirmed that the person lacked the requisite management experience at senior level for appointment as DG. The regularity and suitability in the appointment of the DG was a breach of law.” The report says in part.
Gathungu now says the Epra board chaired by retired Judge Jackton Ojwang in consultation with the ten Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter erred in appointing Kiptoo as the substantive DG on July 1, 2021 after serving in an acting capacity since December 2020.
Section 13 (1) of the Energy Act stipulates that the board shall subject to the approval of the Cabinet Secretary, appoint a DG who shall be the CEO of the authority.
Section 13 (3) (c) (d) of the law says a person shall be qualified for appointment as DG if the person has at least seven years of management experience at a senior level and at least two years of experience in petroleum and energy sector.
According to the minutes and internal records seen by The Informer, DG’s post was declared vacant on March 31, 2021 and subsequently advertised on April 27, 2021 following the interdiction of Pavel Oimeke over corruption allegations.
Consequently, an 83rd special meeting of the board held on May 20, 2021 delegated the tasks of shortlisting of the applicants to the Finance and Administration committee of the board.
“Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) board of directors in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Charles Keter has appointed Mr Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria to the role of Director-General for a term of three years’ renewable once with effect from July 1st 2021,” the Board said in a statement signed by the chairman, retired justice Jackton Ojwang.
The board added that Mr Kiptoo “held the position in an acting capacity since December 14th 2020”.
Currently, divided sections of the board and senior management want Kiptoo’s appointment rersed over what they say was skewed appointment based on favouritism.
Kiptoo bulldozed his government and political networks as an energy sector insider to influence his appointment through intimidating the board.
Kiptoo is said to have been instrumental in drafting the Energy Act, 2019 and the Petroleum Act, 2019. He previously worked as the legal advisor at the Ministry of Energy and State Department of Petroleum.
“Since the auditor General has confirmed the DG’s appointment was a nullity and was irregularly done, we now want the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Davis Chirichir to reverse this appointment and ensure the law guiding DG’s appointment is followed to the letter.” Our source intimated.
