Ten candidates have expressed quest to succeed embattled former Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) MD Daniel Manduku. Submission of applications closed last Friday with the number of applicants still lower compared to previous years when the post fell vacant.
Only one of the applicants is not a senior manager at KPA but most of the senior managers have submitted their papers to take the position that was held by Manduku. KPA MD Dan Manduku resigns
A civil society group in Mombasa wants the names of the applicants and those shortlisted published and the recruitment exercise subjected to public participation.
Commission for Human Rights and Justice (CHRJ) have complained that that similar exercises in the past were shrouded in secrecy and raised many questions over fairness and transparency.
“The process must encompass transparency, fairness, and public participation,” said Julius CHRJ Executive Director.
In a petition to KPA Board Chairman General (Rtd) Joseph Kibwana, he stated that the interviews for the MD position should be conducted in public with members of the public being allowed to submit their views on the candidates.
By Thursday, our sources at the port revealed that KPA acting managing director and general manager engineering services Rashid Salim, KPA general manager in charge of Lamu port Abdullahi Samatar and KPA general manager in charge of Kisumu port Sudi Mwasinago had all applied for the vacant post.
Mr Salim and Eng(Rtd) Joseph Atonga are making a third stab to clinch the lucrative post after failing but Mr Mwasinago will be making his second stab.
Top managers except two general managers are not joined the race to succeed Manduku who bowed out last month due to piling pressure from the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti.
This is the first time that the number of applicants is highest among current employees as KPA board of directors under chairmanship of Kibwana will oversee the process from guiding interviews to choosing a new chief executive.
Work experience and knowledge of port operations will key in finding the best suited candidate to take over from Manduku.
Also in the race is KPA’s General Manager Finance Patrick Nyoike has also applied for the job despite his docket having pending issues before the Parliamentary Public Investment Committee under the chairmanship of Abdulswamad Nassir.
Mr Nyoike got under siege after he failed to account for over Sh3 billion which went missing after the fall Chase Bank, when he served as manager financial accounting.
Last year Nyoike was summoned by the parliamentary committee to explain why the opening of the account at the collapsed bank was not reflected in the minutes of the of KPA board meetings.
The account in question was allegedly opened three days before the bank collapsed with KPA’s Sh3 billion.
The Abdulswamad committee wants former KPA Managing Director Gichiri Ndua and former board of directors chairman Danson Mungatana to be summoned to shed light on the matter.
Nyoike boasts of long management experience in finance with over 18 years in both public and private sectors, managing diverse and significant resources and is one of the serious contenders in the race.two-insiders-among-applicants-to-replace-manduku
Former KPA general manager for corporate services Justus Nyarandi who was unceremoniously kicked from KPA alongside Mr Ndua and other senior managers four years ago is also in the race.
