Ex- military boss Julius Karangi named as the KAA Chairman/file
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 24 – Ex- military boss Julius Karangi has been named as the Kenya Airports Authority Chairman to replace David Kimaiyo whose appointment has been revoked.
Karangi’s appointment is contained in a Gazette Notice released Friday which also contain several other government appointments.
Kimaiyo was appointed KAA Chairman by President Uhuru Kenyatta a month after he vacated from office of the Inspector General in December 2014.
The move comes as the Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia halted construction of a new Sh56 billion terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Macharia said that the cancellation of the plan was informed by a recent finding that the terminal would yield little value for money and that the funds are better used constructing a second runway.
KAA is also in search of a Managing Director following the firing of Lucy Mbugua in 2014.
In January 2016 Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia cancelled the ongoing recruitment of the KAA chief executive officer, citing interference.
Macharia consequently directed that the process be initiated afresh with immediate effect by a reputable and competent professional firm.
The recruitment process by the Board of Kenya Airports Authority was first advertised in the mainstream media on 20 November 2015 and on various local and international job websites.
“However, it has now come to my attention that the process has been unduly interfered with, thus resulting in doubts on credibility of the anticipated outcome,” Macharia stated in a statement at the time.
PriceWaterhousCoopers is dealing with the recruitment process.
The board fired three of its senior officials — including managing director Lucy Mbugua, general manager for finance John Thumbi and acting airport engineer Christopher Warutere — on June 27 last year over allegations of improprieties in procuring airport buses.
Mbugua was also being probed for her alleged role in a controversial duty-free shops tender.
Other appointments contained in the Gazette Notice include Ronald Osumba who is the new Youth Fund board chairman. Osumba was the running mate of Peter Kenneth who contested for the presidency in 2013 under the Kenya National Congress party.
Former Changamwe Member of Parliament Ramadhan Kajembe has been appointed the chairman of the Kenya Ferry Services, with former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju becoming chairman of the Lake Basin Development Authority among others.
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