This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
On August 30, 2019, activist Okiya Omtatah filed an urgent application at the Labour Court challenging the appointment of Mercy Wanjau as the acting director general of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
According to the court documents, Mr. Omtatah argued that Ms. Wanjau's appointment was made without following the law, as the CA had no board to appoint an acting director general at the time of outgoing Director General Francis Wangusi's tenure expiration on August 21, 2019.
Mr. Omtatah further stated that it is against the public interest for the exiting DG to vacate office and hand it over to third parties unknown in law, adding that the chairman of the board has no capacity to single-handedly or in collusion with third parties, appoint an acting DG.
He also pointed out that there are currently in place, orders issued by another court stopping the appointment of the CA board and all its operations, including making changes in the office of the DG, until a case challenging the Board's appointment is determined.
The case will be heard on September 3, 2019.
