President William Ruto has appointed Charles Karondo, a former Personal Assistant (PA) to Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro, as the new Chair of the Board of the Communications Authority with immediate effect.
The development was revealed via a gazette notice on Friday, August 8, with Karondo set to serve for three years as the new CA boss.
Karondo, a former student leader at Mount Kenya University (MKU), is said to have earned his stripes as an aide to Nyoro, who is currently facing a turbulent period over his opposition to Ruto.
While it is unclear exactly when he served as Nyoro’s PA, Karondo carried over his experience to Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party, becoming affiliated with the party as Ruto ascended to power in the 2022 General Election.
Afterwards, he was appointed Chairperson of the Athi Water Works Agency in 2022, becoming one of the country’s youngest board chairs.
Karondo’s appointment triggered the revocation of Mary Wambui, famously known as ‘Wambui wa Ruto’, from the same position.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6(1)(a) of the Kenya Information and Communications Act, as read together with section 51(1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint CCharles Kamau Karondo to be the non-executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Communications Authority, for three (3) years. The appointment of Mary Wambui Mungai is revoked,” the notice read.
Wambui, a billionaire businesswoman, has long been known as a staunch ally of Ruto, supporting his 2022 presidential bid.
She had replaced Gilbert Kibe as CA Board Chair in December 2022 after the latter’s retirement. However, her appointment attracted scrutiny as it came at a time when she had an ongoing court case.
Wambui had been arrested and arraigned in court over a Ksh2.2 billion tax evasion case. Her appointment was also challenged in court, with an activist filing a petition seeking orders to prevent her from assuming office.
In January 2023, however, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropped the tax evasion case against Wambui. She had been facing eight counts of unlawfully omitting income tax returns for her company between 2014 and 2019. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was seeking taxes amounting to Ksh2.2 billion.
Meanwhile, as the chairperson, Karondo will oversee the operations at the Communications Authority.
Some of the functions include licensing systems and services in the communication industry, facilitating the development and management of a national cyber security framework, as well as facilitating the development of e-commerce.
