IDG News Service —
The Kenyan government has dismissed allegations that politics interfered with the appointment of Charles Njoroge as Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) director general.
Public-sector appointments must be on merit; the process that led up to the appointment of Njoroge was transparent and meritorious, assured Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication. Ernest&Young was appointed as the selection agency to avoid any form of interference, he added.
The agency forwarded six names to the board, five attended the interviews, and three names were forwarded to Minister Samuel Poghisio.
Ndemo made his statements after one of the flopped applicants, Shem Ochuodho, cast doubt on whether Njoroge was the most qualified applicant, listing others in the CCK who were equally qualified.
Njoroge has been with CCK since it's inception and had been working as second violin to all of the preceding director generals, said Brian Longwe, chairman of the Kenya ICT Action Network. The position was advertised broadly in all local dailies, and the CCK board interviewed all candidates; the board independently selected the highest scoring candidate, he assured.
