The Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) on Tuesday dismissed allegations by a local daily that Trade CS Salim Mvurya influenced the appointment of Lucy Anagwe, a senior government official allegedly implicated in a Ksh6 billion edible oil scandal, as the entity's Managing Director.
The Corporation, in a statement issued on November 12, termed the article by the local publication titled "Plump Job for Sh6bn oil scum suspect”, as erroneous and inaccurate.
While clarifying the allegations, KNTC, under the Ministry of Trade, revealed that the managing director's office was declared vacant on November 28, 2023. To fill the position, the Corporation's board advertised the vacant position through the MyGov newspaper on January 22, this year.
Following the advertisement, the Corporation convened a full board meeting where a special committee was formed to shortlist viable candidates for the lucrative government position.
Those selected for the interview panel were taken through the recruitment tools including the interview questions, score sheet, and score summary sheet that would be used for the interview exercise. “All interviewers recorded no conflict of interest in the entire interview process and the pass mark was set at 70 per cent," read part of the statement by KNTC.
According to KNTC, the interview panel which comprised all the board members conducted interviews between March 26 and March 27 this year in strict adherence to the human resource policies and procedures on recruitment.
Upon completion, the panel ranked the interviewees and recommended the three candidates for appointment. On March 27, 2024, the chairman of the board submitted to Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano a detailed report of the interview.
Former Trade CS Rebecca Miano advised the board to repeat the interview. In line with the recommendation, the KNTC board re-advertised the position.
The chairman of the board convened another full board meeting where another panel was constituted to shortlist for the position of managing director. During the recruitment process, 8 candidates were invited for interviews on May 13, 2024.
Following successful interviews, the board, and the interview panel recommended the three names to the Cabinet Secretary for consideration for appointment on May 30, 2024.
Subsequently, KNTC wrote to the various diverse academic institutions and investigative agencies to verify the academic certificates of the 3 candidates and to establish their suitability to hold office respectively.
In response to the chairman's letter dated July 9, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) responded in writing saying that it did not find fault with any of the three listed candidates nor did it recommend prosecution of any of them.
Upon receiving the response, the commission communicated its concurrence and appointment of Lucy Anangwe, to the chairman of the board, who was one of three shortlisted candidates, which was effected by the full Board.
"The board reiterates that the recruitment process was done competitively, and transparently in accordance with the law and the laid down procedures. The board reiterates its commitment to good cooperate governance and compliance with the law as it implements strategic reforms in the corporation," read part of the statement by KNTC.
