Shocking Conflict of Interest as Acting PSRA Director General Caught Sitting on His Own Interview Panel in Scandal-Ridden Recruitment Process
The hunt for a new director general at the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) to succeed Fazul Mahamed has been abruptly halted.
This development means the PSRA could soon find itself without both a chief executive officer and a chairman as Adiel Nyange’s term is wrapping up this month.
The State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) slammed the brakes on the process after murmurs surfaced that the recruitment lacked the stamp of approval from a full PSRA board meeting.
SCAC sounded the alarm about possible legal repercussions if the hiring pushed forward under these shaky circumstances.
The entire affair has stirred up a hornet’s nest, with some board members crying foul over what they see as blatant breaches of recruitment procedures and regulations.
In a move that’s raised more than a few eyebrows, acting Director General Philip Leakey Okello has been sitting on the interview panel despite being an applicant for the very position.
Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.
Amid the uproar within the private security sector, a wrench was thrown into the works when on August 26, 2024, SCAC secretary Simon M. Indimuli penned a letter to Nyange, drawing attention to the legal minefield of proceeding without an explicit resolution from a full board meeting.
Indimuli was responding to grievances from board members Baljit Sokhi and Pius Chelimo, who claim they’ve been left out in the cold, never invited to any board meetings.
It has come to light that the decision to advertise the CEO vacancy, shortlist candidates and conduct interviews was never discussed or approved by a full PSRA board meeting – a glaring oversight that could spell trouble down the line.
The announcement calling for candidates to apply for the CEO role was published on May 21, 2024 in the “MyGov” government outlet.
The notice stated that the new CEO would serve a three-year term with the possibility of renewal based on performance evaluations.
Applicants had until July 31, 2024 to throw their hats into the ring.
Reporting directly to the board of directors, the CEO position is no small potatoes.
The role holds sway over PSRA’s operations, steering critical tasks like budget allocations, strategic planning and team management.
During his six-year stint, Mahamed reportedly never convened a full PSRA board meeting.
Word on the street is that he ran the show single-handedly, making unilateral decisions left, right and center.
His tenure wasn’t without its share of drama and was constantly entangled in controversies including a spat with COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli over workers’ remittances.
Indimuli didn’t mince words in his warning to PSRA board chairperson Nyange: pushing ahead with the CEO recruitment, sanctioned by a board that excluded Sokhi and Chelimo, could open a legal can of worms.
Adding fuel to the fire, the SCAC secretary also pointed out Nyange’s failure to acknowledge or respond to inquiries from the two sidelined directors regarding their appointments to the board.
Sokhi and Chelimo’s names were officially gazetted by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior as PSRA board members effective September 24, 2023 yet they found themselves locked out of a board meeting on April 5, 2024, with no explanations forthcoming from then-CEO Fazul.
During that contentious meeting, Jackson Mbuthia was controversially elected Vice Chairperson of the PSRA board.
The PSRA Board Chairperson is a presidential appointee and with Nyange’s term ticking away, stakeholders are biting their nails over the President’s delay in naming a successor.
KenyanHour 