As the expenditure story unfolds, the CA management and its board are reading from different scripts.
Francis Wangusi is seen as a man who pioneered reforms which were thought to be a pipe dream. He was the man behind the switch from analogue broadcasting signals to digital platform in mid-June.
But now it is an audit report that revealed that his staff spent Sh307 million on local and international travel allowances, that has pushed him back to the limelight.
The communications industry regulator is also said to have spent Sh11.9 million in sitting allowances between July and November 2014 on board member meetings, press briefings, retreats, team building activities and foreign travel.
As the expenditure story unfolds, the CA management and its board are reading from different scripts.
Mr Wangusi claims that the audit report on travel allowances by the board of directors was malicious as the committee failed to incorporate input from the management. He said some members of the committee were trying to use the report to “push for their personal interests.”
He has disputed the amount, saying what his staff spent is far below what is stated in the audit report and within the approved budget.
“In fact, I am the less-travelled director-general, and I believe that a forensic audit that has been ordered will shed the right picture,” he said.
While the travel allowances caused a hue and cry among the public, Mr Wangusi defended the authority saying that in order to meet Kenya’s subscription obligations, CA staff must travel to various international and regional organisations to which the country is affiliated as a member when there are crucial meetings.
The affiliates include the International Telecommunication Union, Universal Postal Union, African Telecommunications Union, Pan African Postal Union, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute, East African Communications Organisation and the Association of Regulators in Central and Eastern Africa.
The total subscriptions to these organisations amount to Sh80 million annually.
“While the proposal to reduce/minimise travel costs through use of teleconferencing or video conferencing is valid, the number of meetings that have this provision are limited,” Mr Wangusi noted. “In other cases, face-to-face interactions will remain necessary especially where interventions are based on submissions made on the floor and caucusing of positions is widely applied.”
Mr Wangusi was first appointed to the position on August 21, 2012 for a period of three years. In June, the board reappointed him to the same position, beating five finalists for the top job.
He has the requisite qualifications. With over 20 years’ experience in the ICT sector, Mr Wangusi had previously served in various capacities at the Communications Commission of Kenya. He joined the authority in 2000 as an assistant director.
Prior to joining the Communications Authority, Mr Wangusi worked at the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation. He also served as a senior lecturer at the former Kenya College for Communications Technology, now Multimedia University.
He holds a Master’s degree in Space Sciences with specialisation in Satellite Communications from the International Space University, France; a BSc in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Rome, and a Charted Engineer Part II certificate from the Institute of Electronics Engineering, UK.
He is also a holder of Global Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the United States International University.
He was in 2013 awarded the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) in recognition of his distinguished service to Kenya in the ICT sector.
It is during Mr Wangusi tenure that the telecoms market grew to be rated third largest in Africa.
However, differences between the management and the board have been brewing for a while and reached fever pitch when some top executives took the board to court in December after they were asked to re-apply for their positions in a new structure.
The board won the case but the new structure is yet to be implemented.
The executives claim the CA board is pushing for a new structure to edge out some employees. It is not only the travel allowances that has created a rift between the management and the board.
Mr Wangusi sparked controversy with a letter he wrote to the authority’s board advising the withdrawal of a demand notice sent to Airtel asking for payment of a Sh2.1 billion licence fee. The Treasury and some non-executive board members said that Airtel must pay the Sh2.1 billion fee for the licence.
“Management is of the view that considering the events that have taken place thus so far based on the legal analysis, it would be more prudent to withdraw the demand for $20 million from Airtel,” he said in his note to the board.
