This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
On October 17, 2019, the Kenya Gazette published a notice appointing Nominated Senator Abshiro Soka Halake to the Kenya National Library Services Board (KNLS). However, Abshiro has since denied the appointment, stating that it was an error.
Abshiro's name was listed as one of the appointees in the Gazette Notice No. 9871 of October 17, 2019. In a statement, she said, 'Fellow citizens, colleagues, friends and family. Contents of the Kenya Gazette Notice No. 9871 of the 17th October 2019, appointing me to the Board of the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) has come to my attention. I wish to inform that my gazettement as one of the appointees was an error.'
Abshiro was initially appointed to the KNLS Board in 2016 but resigned in 2017 after being nominated to the Senate. She claimed that her name was erroneously left on the list from the previous appointment and that she had notified the ministry, who assured her that it would be corrected.
Abshiro's denial comes as President Uhuru Kenyatta faces criticism for appointing retirees to government jobs, despite millions of young Kenyans being unemployed. The president has recently appointed several elderly individuals to key positions, including former Othaya MP Mary Wambui as chair of the National Employment Board, former Vice President Moody Awori to chair the Sports, Art and Social Development Fund, and former Cabinet minister Noah Wekesa as chair of the Strategic Food Reserve Fund.
