Kaparo to head cohesion commission

President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed former National Assembly Speaker Francis ole Kaparo as chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).

Mr Kaparo, a former chairman of the United Republican Party that is part of the Jubilee alliance, was picked from a list of 15 nominees who had been approved by Parliament.

Mr Kaparo will replace former chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia whose term expired in September last year. Neither Mr Kibunjia nor former NCIC member Fatuma Mohammed’s names were in the list forwarded to Mr Kenyatta.

The President also named Ms Belinda Akoth Ochiel, Ms Irene Njeri Wanyoike, Mr Adan Abdi Mohammed, Dr Roba Sharamo, Dr Joseph Wamocha Nasongo and Prof Gitile Naituli as commissioners.

In a statement by State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Thursday, the chairs of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the National Gender and Equality Commission and the Commission on Administrative Justice will also serve as NCIC commissioners.

The NCIC has been without commissioners since September last year when the terms of the Kibunjia-led team expired.