Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i was on Wednesday sued over allegations of illegally appointing Embu University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Paul Musili Wambua.
The petitioner, Mr David Mumo, through his lawyer John Gitibi, filed an application in a Nyeri Court arguing that the appointment of the VC was not competitive, fair and transparent as stipulated in section 38(4) of the university Act.
The lawyer further submitted that there was no public participation to scrutinise the candidates as the VC was directly appointed by the CS.
He added that the VC’s integrity and moral character was under question since there were three pending cases at the Law Society of Kenya's (LSK) disciplinary committee filed against Mr Musili between 2015 and 2017.
"There is also a judgment from the Committee where the Chancellor was convicted over misappropriating some funds. He also has a case involving misappropriation of some Sh6 million. He is also alleged to have issued cheques from his law firm which were drawn from a dormant account," Gitibi submitted.
Mr Gitibi further explained that the CS went contrary to the law by handpicking the VC since he was required to make public all three candidates recommended to the president for approval.
“The CS was supposed to pick three candidates after a competitive recruitment process and send to the President. But he failed to advertise the position and no interviews were conducted,” Gitibi explained.
The lawyer further explained that if the CS had followed the Constitution and conducted public participation, he would have discovered that the VC was not suited to hold public office since he had pending integrity issues.
The petitioner wants the appointment of the VC dated October 7, 2016, termed null and void.
The case will be heard on the April 21st, 2017.
