This archive report was first published on 21 August 2019.
Published on August 21, 2019, controversy is swirling around President Uhuru Kenyatta's nominees to the troubled National Lands Commission (NLC). Senior counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi has dismissed the selection process as a "sham" and "remote controlled" by the Executive.
The President has nominated lawyer Gershom Otachi as the chair of NLC and eight other members, including Tiya Galgalo, Esther Murungi, James Tuitoek, Reginald Okumu, Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji, Kazungu Kambi, Getrude Nduku, and Alsiter Murimi Mutugi.
However, those opposed to the shortlisted candidates have accused the President's administration of trying to reward cronies and political rejects while locking out qualified Kenyans. The selection panel that interviewed applicants forwarded a list of two qualified applicants for the position of the chair and 16 for members from which the President Kenyatta nominated the nine whose names he forwarded to Parliament for vetting.
It is worth noting that Otachi, who is the current chair of the Geothermal Development Company (GDC), was in the president's legal team during his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC). He is also a partner in the law firm of Ogeto Otachi and Co. Advocates.
Former MPs Galgalo and Murugi had only been shortlisted for the chair's post but have been nominated as members. The unsuccessful applicant cited the decision by the former Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General John Njiraini to withdraw his candidature even though he was among 11 people shortlisted for interviews as a pointer to the intrigues.
University of Nairobi political analyst Herman Manyora termed the flaws cited in the recruitment exercise as a system's issue. He argued that the old mentality and bureaucracy is still alive despite there being a new constitutional dispensation.
