Kenyans may be disqualified from holding the position of Deputy Director General of the African Centre for Disease Control (CDC) as the country is not part of a list of thirty-two underrepresented countries.
The list was developed based on staff numbers for the regular staff members within the organisation a number which Kenya attained.
According to a post made by the Director of the Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya on December 27 2023, the candidate for the position of Deputy Director General would have to hail from the countries listed below.
“Due to geographic balance and quota issue in African Union, candidates must be from one of these 32 countries where the quota for regular staff is not full: Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Rep., Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sahrawi Arab D.R., Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, and Tunisia,” read part of the advertisement.
Kenyan doctor Ahmed Ogwell Ouma has notably occupied the position of Acting Deputy Director General since its inception in 2019.
Additionally, Dr Ouma served as the Acting Director of the organisation in 2022- 2023, during the tail end of the pandemic.
However, despite having served in the position the Director may not qualify for the position given that he is above the 55-year-old age limit and the aforementioned quota cap.
Reports made by Devex, a publication that deals with matters of global development, indicate the doctor resigned and is set to exit the organisation at the end of March.
According to the publication, a memo issued by Director Kaseya announced the resignation.
Further, the memo is said to have praised Dr Ouma for his contribution to the Centre during his tenure.
“His contributions have been instrumental in navigating our young organization through unprecedented times, from managing the COVID-19 challenges to laying the foundations of the continental Public Health agency leading health in Africa in line with our new mandate,” Kaseya wrote.
A spot check by Kenyans.co.ke, on the benefits accrued by the Acting Deputy Director reveals that the indicative basic salary for the position is Ksh14.3 million (US$ 100,017.00) per annum.
Additionally, the deputy director is eligible for other benefits such as Post adjustment ( 46% of basic salary), Housing allowance and education allowance (100% of tuition and other education-related expenses for every eligible dependent with caps on the amounts.
