Mr Patrick Nyoike, the Energy PS. He stopped the recruitment. FILE
What you need to know:
Mr Chirchir on Monday said the new boss will be known next month once the board forwards three names to his office.
Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Davis Chirchir has re-started the recruitment of KenGen chief executive that was stopped last month to allow for the appointment of a new minister.
Mr Chirchir on Monday said the new boss will be known next month once the board forwards three names to his office.
The directive brought to an abrupt end the recruitment that began in January and raised questions over political meddling in appointment of CEOs of State-owned companies.
Mr Chirchir was sworn in this month but President Kenyatta is yet to appoint principal secretary, formerly permanent secretary to the portfolio.
“The recruitment is being handled by the board. They will then forward three names to the minister and it will be finished by June,” said Mr Chirchir.
Consultancy firm Manpower HR had produced a short-list of eight candidates for the position and it is not clear whether KenGen will start the process afresh.
The new chief executive was expected to be in office this month in time to replace the outgoing KenGen boss Eddy Njoroge, who chose to exit midstream in a five-year term that was to end in March 2015.
Mr Nyoike said in his letter to the KenGen board that the appointment of a new CEO would have to await the arrival of a new Cabinet secretary despite the fact that the latter has no role in the process except appointing a person recommended by the board through a competitive recruitment.
Ordinarily, the KenGen board was expected to continue with the recruitment exercise in readiness for the forwarding of the name of the successful candidates to the appointing authority — who is the cabinet secretary.
Stopping the process meant Mr Nyoike wanted the new Cabinet secretary to participate in the selection process.
A debate has been raging as to whether the government’s power should be restricted to appointing directors or State-owned listed companies should be run like any other parastatals where ministers meddle in appointment of CEOs and managers.
“KenGen is a listed company and the issue of the new CEO must be handled professionally,” said Mr Chirchir without giving details.
Mr Njoroge was first appointed managing director of KenGen in March 2003 and would be best remembered for shepherding the firm’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2006, which is credited with ushering retail investors to the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
The government sold its 30 per cent stake in the firm through the IPO that raised more than Sh26 billion against a target of Sh7.9 billion.
KenGen’s profit stood at Sh2.4 billion in 2007 and rose to Sh3.2 billion in 2010 before slipping to Sh2.8 billion in the year to last June.
The share has increased 79 per cent over the past year to Sh15.15 in a period that has seen most counters at the Nairobi bourse rise by double-digits.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
