Wangusi sent on leave as CA board advertises his job

The telecoms sector regulator has sent its director-general, Francis Wangusi, on leave and advertised his position, signalling a possible change of guard at the agency.

Mr Wangusi has been at the helm of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for three years, having taken over from Charles Njoroge in 2012.

Ben Gituku, who chairs the CA board, on Wednesday told the Business Daily that Mr Wangusi, whose contract expires on August 21, had requested for an extension of his contract but had been instead asked to proceed on leave to facilitate fresh recruitment.

Mr Gituku said extending the DG’s term would be in breach of the Kenya Information and Communication Amendment (KICA) Act, 2013, which requires the position to be filled competitively. Mr Wangusi is, however, eligible to apply for the position alongside other candidates.

The KICA Act 2013 that gave birth to the CA empowers the board to hire the director- general as opposed to the previous Act that bestowed the power on the ICT minister, who executed the mandate by picking one of three names submitted to him.

The old law also allowed the board to extend the tenure of a director- general who has served his first term and achieved 70 per cent threshold during appraisal.

Under the new law, the director- general serves for a term of four years renewable once. The DG’s terms and conditions of service are determined by the board in consultation with the Public Service Commission.

It remains to be seen whether the CA board will be break with the tradition and appoint a director-general from outside the telecoms industry.

All past heads of CCK, Samuel Chepkonga, Sammy Kirui, John Waweru, Mr Njoroge and Mr Wangusi began their careers with the defunct Kenya Post and Telecommunication Corporation — which was in 1997 broken into Telkom Kenya, the CCK and Postal Corporation.

The search for the new DG came as the CA prepared to unveil a new management structure that will place all senior managers on contract.

READ: CA to scrap permanent posts for top managers

The decision has since sparked off a vicious court battle pitting the board against the agency’s executives.

The managers on Wednesday won round one of the battle when the High Court issued orders stopping the restructuring exercise until the case is heard and determined.   

Under CA’s new management structure, the number of executives reporting to the director-general has dropped to three from nine.

The board has also scrapped the title of directors and renamed the new positions as chief managers reporting to the three general managers; technical service, corporate affairs and support services.

The High Court on Wednesday stopped the CA from hiring 13 directors in a restructuring process, bringing the reform process to a halt.

Justice Hellen Wasilwa issued the order after two directors — Juma Kandie and Christopher Wasilwa — argued that allowing the CA to fill the positions would put their jobs in jeopardy.

The two directors had in February secured court orders stopping the CA from sacking them.

Mr Kandie and Mr Kemei argue that allowing the CA to hire new directors puts them at risk of being sent home, a move that would render their suit futile.

“The process of filling up positions of directors is hereby stopped. Status quo is hereby maintained. Highlighting of arguments on the application by Mr Kandie and Mr Kemei shall be on May 4,” the judge ruled.

The CA has argued that the other 13 directors are not party to the suit but Justice Kandie held that it would only be logical to stop the hiring process across the board and not only for Mr Kandie and Mr Kemei’s posts.

Mr Kandie is the director of human resources and administration, while Mr Kemei is the director of licensing, compliance and standards.

The two directors have challenged CA’s decision to suspend parts of the human resource policy manual, and hold that the only new thing in their posts is change of title from ‘director’ to ‘chief manager’. Both hold that they are competent to remain in office.

Mr Kemei says suspension of the human resource policy manual for purposes of restructuring is a breach of the agency’s contract with them. The two hold that the CA must follow the law if it seeks to send them home.

“At no point did the CA notify us and the Labour Office of its decision to render us redundant, in contravention of labour laws,” they added.

Mr Kemei and Mr Kandie moved to court after another petition filed by the Communication Workers Union challenging the restructuring was thrown out.

The employment and Labour relations court told the directors challenging their sacking to sue in their individual capacities and not through the lobby.

CA’s board resolved to sack the two directors in December and advertised their posts again in January. It earlier this month advertised for the vacancies of 13 other director posts.