President Kenyatta submitted the names to the National Assembly for vetting before formal appointment. Photo/ FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 18 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has re-submitted to the National Assembly the name of Kiragu wa Magonchi as the nominee to chair the Teachers Service Commission despite rejection by the 10th Parliament in January.
Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi said on Wednesday that the he had received a letter from the President dated September 17 communicating the nomination of wa Magonchi and other commissioners for MPs’ approval as required in the TSC Act.
The President has also nominated Albert Fred Ekirapa, Jacinta Anyango Kapiyo, William Mwita Makubo, James Muthuri Mukoroi and Mohammed Juma Mwenyepembe as members of the commission.
The Committee on Education Science and Technology is expected to conduct its approval hearings next Thursday.
The 10th Parliament had on January 9 adopted a report by the then Education Committee which recommended the rejection of the list of TSC nominees which had been forwarded to the House by former President Mwai Kibaki in consultation with Prime Minister Raila Odinga and instead called for fresh interviews.
The lawmakers said Lydia Nzomo, who had been ranked as the best applicant at the interview stage, should have been appointed to head the crucial commission that employs and certifies all the teachers in the country.
MPs – who at the time extended their sittings until late in the night – disqualified wa Magonchi saying that he did not perform better than Nzomo during interviews.
The argument in Parliament started when it was discovered that Nzomo’s name was not submitted to the two principals for appointment.
The MPs then demanded an explanation as to why the name was not submitted yet she qualified for the post.
After the interviews, the principals constituted a selection panel chaired by educationist James Kamunge, had ranked Nzomo top after she garnered 80.3 percent while wa Magonchi came second with 73.3 percent.
Cleophas Tirop, Chairman of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KSSHA), scored 81.4 percent followed by Salome Gichura who scored 78.7 percent and Julius Jwan scored 71.8 percent.
The 10th Parliament, however, approved three names to be members of the commission. Tirop, Fredrick Ochieng and Adan Sheikh Abdullahi were approved and sworn into office. They were later joined by Director of Higher Education Salome Wanjiku Gichura and Saadia Abdi Kontoma who were approved by the current Parliament in July.
This is the third time that the National Assembly will be discussing nominees to the commission.
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