Maritime agency launches fresh search for new director-general

What you need to know:

Previous attempts to fill the top seat have not been fruitful after they were scuttled by court wrangles.
Two acting bosses have held the position since the exit of Nancy Karigithu, who is now the Shipping and Maritime Affairs Principal Secretary.
They are Cosmas Cherop, who took over the helm after her exit, and George Macgoye who holds the position to date.

The Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), which has for nearly three years been without a substantive boss, has re-advertised the position.

Previous attempts to fill the top seat have not been fruitful after they were scuttled by court wrangles.

Two acting bosses have held the position since the exit of Nancy Karigithu, who is now the Shipping and Maritime Affairs Principal Secretary.

They are Cosmas Cherop, who took over the helm after her exit, and George Macgoye who holds the position to date.

This will be the fifth time KMA is attempting to fill the post.

“Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Director- General will be an ex officio member of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority and will be responsible for day to day management and operations and will have control over all personnel and other activities of the Authority,” reads a notice from the agency last week.

Recent attempts by the parastatal have seen interested parties seek court injunctions stopping the process.

The board advertised for the position in October last year with interviews to be conducted after that.

Nine candidates were shortlisted but the process was halted by a court order after an application by the Commission for Human Rights and Justice.

The application has since been dismissed, paving way for the government agency to begin a fresh recruitment drive.

Before that, the last time shortlisted candidates were to be evaluated was back in January 2016 but the exercise was also cancelled following a court order.

Among those previously shortlisted include former acting director-general Mr Cherop, the Authority’s head of commercial shipping Mr John Omingo and former Kenya Ferry Service (KFS) managing director Musa Hassan Musa.

Former Garsen MP Danson Mungatana was among individuals with a political background who applied but was locked out of the shortlist.

He is now a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) competition commission board member.