The State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) and the Inspectorate of State Corporations have been urged to intervene and help solve a looming transition crisis at New KCC.
The NKCC MD Nixon Sigei is set to leave the organization in December 2020.
He will have served two terms of three years each.
This is as per requirement set by Mwongozo which is the code of governance for all State Corporations.
However, the parastatal Board led by Ignatius Kahiu have reportedly not initiated the process to replace Sigei who exits in 3 months.
As per employment contract regulations, Sigei is supposed to have applied for renewal of his contract 6 months before expiry of his term.
However, he is in a catch 22 situation in that there is no provision for applying for extension and or renewal of his contract as he has already served his 2 three-year terms.
Any application for contract renewal and or extension is not only illegal but will be challenged in a court of law.
There is a school of thought that holds the view that Sigei applied for his contract renewal and the Board secretly approved the application.
The application is said to be waiting for CS Munya’s approval.
CS Munya, a consummate lawyer, knows that this application is illegal as it is not grounded in any law and therefore it is likely to attract legal challenges.
“This is where the leadership crisis in NKCC begins and it is only fair to the citizens of this country , that the Inspector of State Corporations, SCAC, NKCC Board and the relevant Cabinet Secretary carry out their mandate as required of them” observes one leader of a civil society group.
Several other parastatals have had their MDs sent on leave 6 months pending retirement or end of their terms.
Insiders at NKCC said the MD has not gone on leave since 2015 which is not only against good Human Resources Practices but can also be expensive to the exchequer as he may have to be paid in cash through public funds.
This is wastage of public resources which can be argued in court.
Section 1.17 of the Mwongozo code places liability on the Board for negligence, breach of duty and trust.
In December 2014, the then NKCC Managing Director, Kipkurui Arap Langat was forced to cut his contract short by four months.
The NKCC Board in their wisdom paid Langat millions of shillings in lieu of notice.
The haste to have him retire 4 months in advance was to accommodate Sigei who was jobless by then having lost his job at the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC).
Those close to him told Hot News he lost the job due to impropriety issues touching on lost fertilizer among other items.
NKCC Board has also failed to promote ethical conduct and sanction misconduct on the part of Sigei.
The Board has condoned all the impunities perpetrated by Sigei that have been whistle blown over time by staffs of New KCC.
This is against the Code of Conduct and Ethics under clause 4.2 d.
The NKCC Board therefore under section 1.17 shall be held liable for their acts and commissions arising from their negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust.
“Public funds should not continue to be misused to protect a few individuals whose public work life has been wanting. This practice must end and if it means going to court, we shall”. Observes the group leader of the Civil Society. Behind the public glare, Sigei is believed to be a respected insider and a strong mobiliser of the Tanga Tanga team.
Early this year, Agriculture CS Peter Munya sent Kenya Seed MD Azaria Soi on leave pending retirement this August.
Insiders at NKCC are wondering why the Board and the Cabinet Secretary are reluctant to send the embattled Sigei on leave and appoint somebody else.
The Mwongozo code mandates the boards to carry out recruitment through a competitive process.
SCAC was in the fore front in the issuance of Mwongozo code of conduct which has the full backing of President Kenyatta.
It is therefore not clear why SCAC would want to go against what the President promised Kenyans during the launch of the Code in 2014.
President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to have the code implemented in full.
SCAC and Inspector of State Corporations are public servants paid through public funds.
If they cannot perform their mandate as expected of them the best thing is for the President to sack all of them and replace them with dedicated team of officers who are ready and committed in public service- notes a legal expert.
The code spells out that a CEO of a state corporation can only serve for a maximum two terms of 3 years (each term).
Its rumored that Sigei wants his term extended by another 3 years.
In the last three years, he has been battling court cases after whistle blowers accused him of engineering massive corruption at the once vibrant parastatal to the detriment of farmers and other stakeholders.
Suppliers have decried the continuous habit of demanding kickbacks by Sigei before approving their payments.
The print media has on several occasions reported many of Sigei’s malpractices but interestingly all those reports have been expunged from the medias’ databases.
This explains how desperate Sigei is in getting another term.
He is desperate to look Clean.
By default, Sigei is the Chairman of Kenya Dairy Processors Association.
Among the members of this association is Brookside Dairy Ltd whose Chairman is Muhoho Kenyatta who is a brother to the President.
It is reported that Sigei has tried reaching out to Muhoho but the latter is not keen to assist due to the heavy corruption baggage Sigei is carrying.
Muhoho knows far too well that his brother and President loathes corruption and therefore this is not a subject he would be keen to introduce to the President.
On condition of anonymity a NKCC insider intimated to Hot News that suppliers’ pending bills are huge and date back to early this year and some last year.
The worst bit is that the Board is oblivious of the magnitude of this problem which is likely to bring down the parastatal if all suppliers were to demand payment of what is due and owed to them.
This is even though the Kenya Government has sunk close to shs 2 billion in NKCC.
NKCC is also said to be relying heavily on huge and costly bank overdrafts in managing its recurrent expenditure making everyone wonder what is wrong at the once liquid parastatal.
The President has on several occasions directed that all pending bills be paid by June 30th, 2020 which is already in the past.
The insiders wondered why SCAC has not taken any action in view of this and in relation to their function (State Corporations Act 2015 Section 27 (1 a and c) which states
“The committee Shall advise on the matters and perform any functions it is required by this Act to perform and in addition shall
- a) With the assistance of experts where necessary, review and investigate the affairs of state corporations and make such recommendations to the President as it may deem necessary
“c) Where necessary, advise on the appointment, removal, or transfer of officers and staff of state corporations”
Insiders added that the NKCC Board has failed in its duty as stipulated in the Mwongozo Code of Governance.
Clause 1.18- 1 States the Board’s functions are
- a) to appoint and remove the CEO
- b) to ensure that the CEO is recruited through a competitive process.
“This is not only going against the Mwongozo code but also the President’s directive and promise to all Kenyans that the Mwongozo code “shall be implemented fully”. Said an insider.
Former State Corporations Inspector General, Titus Muriithi was arrested and charged in Court over failure to advise the government concerning the Kimwarer and Arror dams.
He was accused of neglecting his duties and allowing the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) to undertake the controversial Arror and Kimwarer Dams.
He stepped aside from office and was replaced by Joyce Wesonga.
Wesonga did not respond to our questions when reached for comment on the NKCC MD saga.
Inspectorate of State Corporations mandate includes surcharging and restitution, compliance, investigations and advisory services, performance management, resource management and administration.
Simon Ndimuli in charge of Governance at SCAC did not respond to text messages when reached for comment.
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