Among those who were vetted include outgoing Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa (PS nominee in the Devolution Ministry) and Gordon Kihalangwa (PS nominee for Immigration)/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 23 – Various parliamentary committees that vetted 19 individuals for the positions of Principal Secretary and ambassadors are finalizing their written reports.
The teams are required to table the reports with recommendations on the suitability of the nominees to Parliament for debate likely next week.
Among those who were vetted include outgoing Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa (PS nominee in the Devolution Ministry) and Gordon Kihalangwa (PS nominee for Immigration).
Others include former Cabinet Secretaries Jacob Kaimenyi, Willy Bett and Hassan Wario who have been appointed as envoys to Paris, India and Austria respectively.
Former State House Comptroller Lawrence Lenayapa was also vetted for the position of envoy to The Netherlands.
During the vetting all the nominees told the respective committees that they were up to the task.
Marwa for instance told the Finance and Planning Committee that he was equal to task due to his sterling performance in the previous post he held.
The lawmakers took him through his track record down in the Coast, citing his tough stance on security, piracy and drug trafficking which, he said, dropped during his tenure.
Marwa’s abrasive way of dealing with politicians on matters affecting the common man earned him the tag of ‘most powerful Regional Coordinator’ particularly due to his encounters with Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, whom he once asked if he is a small god.
Kihalangwa on his part told the departmental committee on Administration and National Security that his long career in the military is an added advantage because immigration is more a security department which needs requisite expertise.
Asked whether he should retire by virtue of age and give other young people the chance to serve, Kaimenyi on his part said his 66 years is a plausible argument.
“People in the University of Nairobi retire at 70 and 74 in other universities. I am not yet there. People older than me have done very well. Global trends are that no one should be discriminated on basis of age, Kaimenyi is very young,” he said.
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