Capital Markets

Muthaura ‘eligible to apply’ for position of CMA chief

muthaura

The acting chief executive of CMA, Paul Muthaura. Photo/SALATON NJAU

The capital markets regulator has started fresh recruitment for the position of chief executive officer, opening the door for the acting CEO, Paul Muthaura, to apply for the position.

This will be the second attempt by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to fill the position since the June 2012 decision by former chief executive Stella Kilonzo to step down after a single four-year term.

Applicants who had participated in the first recruitment in June last will have to make fresh applications, the CMA said Monday.

“Every Kenyan is eligible to apply for the post, including all those who had applied before, and the acting CEO,” said CMA board chairman Kung’u Gatabaki in an interview.

He added that the fresh recruitment started after discussions with newly appointed Treasury Secretary, Henry Rotich.

Mr Muthaura’s appointment in the acting capacity was partly informed by the fact that he was not one of those who had initially applied for the post.

The former director for regulatory policy and strategy, has held the position of acting chief executive since July 2012.

Interviews for more than 20 applicants had been conducted by management consultants Hawkins and Associates, from which five names were picked and forwarded to the CMA board.

Three candidates were picked from the five and their names forwarded to the Treasury to appoint one of them as the chief executive of the capital markets regulator.

Those who had made it to the final list included the head of investment banking arm at Standard Chartered Bank (Kenya) Wanjiku Mugane, CMA corporate affairs and communications director Rose Lumumba and Afrika Investment Bank chief executive Paul Mwai.

Former Finance minister Njeru Githae, however, rejected the three candidates that were presented to him for appointment.

Mr Githae said then that the three candidates did not meet the Treasury’s requirements in line with the upgrade of CMA to category ‘A’ status of State–owned firms.

The law was changed last year to give the Finance secretary powers to appoint the CMA chief executive without having to pass the names to the President.

Mr Gatabaki had, however, insisted that the authority had followed the right procedure in recommending the candidates for appointment to the top job.

In January, the CMA board chairman had said the regulator was “in consultations” with the Treasury regarding the possibility of picking a CEO through a less vigorous process such as conducting interviews of short-listed candidates.