Consultant Firm Locked Out of KPA Recruitment Exercise

By Tobby Otum

The giant Kenya Ports Authority [KPA] is in the process of recruiting a suitable Managing Director to replace current acting MD Amb. John Mwangemi whose contract comes to an end this month of December.

According to an advertisement in local papers the applicants are to submit their applications directly to the office of KPA chairman at the authority’s headquarters before January 13.

The advertisement for a vacancy for the post of managing director by KPA board of directors’ chairman Major General (Rtd) Joseph Kibwana says the applications can be posted to the authority’s official physical address.

The move by KPA board has locked out a consultant firm whose attempts to recruit an MD has aborted three times ending in controversy.

Since the exit of Daniel Manduku the authority has failed to recruit a suitable person to succed him.

This will be an acid test for Kibwana since he was re-appointed as the authority’s board of directors’ chairman.

In the last aborted recruitment exercise it was reported on social media that integrity related issues had haunted former KPA general manager for corporate services Justus Nyarandi in his quest for the position of KPA MD.

Nyarandi scored 80.94 points to emerge the best among six shortlisted candidates interviewed for the position which fell vacant after Manduku was unceremoniously sacked.

Nyarandi was sacked alongside the then KPA MD Gichiri Ndua over corruption allegations but is currently Executive Secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) based in Mombasa county.

The change of guard at the port of Mombasa had come at a time when contractors and suppliers were up in arms over payment delays with sources quoted saying the process of awarding contractors and suppliers was done without budget allocation.