On Tuesday October 22nd, President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated Reverend Samuel Kobia to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.
Dr. Samuel Kobia is set to take over from 69 year old Francis Ole Kaparo who has been the chairman since 2014.
He is a Methodist clergyman and became the first African to be elected as the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches and served between 2004 and 2009. Samuel Kobia worked as a commissioner at the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) between 2013 and 2015 before he resigned.
The other people nominated to the agency include Samuel Kona, former Rangwe Member of Parliament Onkundi Philip, Wambui Nyutu, Abdulaziz Ali Farrah, Danvas Makori, Fatuma Tanyara and Dorcas Kedogo.
The names will be forwarded to Parliament for the vetting process.
Activist Okiya Omtatah filed a petition in January to stop the National Assembly from hiring NCIC commissioners. High Court judge agreed with Omtatah and Justice Wilfrida Okwany ruled that the role of Parliament is limited to vetting candidates who have been cleared for appointment by the executive.
The court suspended 54 candidates that were shortlisted by Parliament for the 8 vacant positions at the NCIC.
All this comes after 69 year old Mary Wambui was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to the National Employment Authority. Young Parliamentarians led by Senator Johnson Sakaja have asked the former Othaya Member of Parliament to decline the appointment. Senator Sakaja was one of the lawmakers behind the Bill that brought the Authority into existence three years ago.
The World Bank’s latest report indicate that Kenya has to create at least 900,000 jobs every year between now and 2025 to absorb the high number of graduates joining the job market.
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