The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has come under fire following claims of prevailing tribal favouritism at the state department.
An investigation by the office of the Ombudsman is looking into scathing allegations of gross irregularities during the recruitment of senior managers, their deputies and commissioners.
The move by The Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) chaired by Florence Kajuju was inspired by a petition filed by Pauline Mumbua who argues the appointed top TSC hierarchy does not represent the face of Kenya.
According to the petition, one specific region is strongly favoured which is contrary to the constitution and the National Cohesion and Integration Act of 2008.
“Whereas the commissioners and senior managers are supposed to reflect the face of Kenya, the current composition at TSC gives a different picture,” reads part of the petition.
Also involved in the case is the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) boss George Kinoti as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) Noordin Haji who both received a copy of the letter dated December 2 2021.
They have been asked to investigate and establish how almost half of the 11 senior managers come from the Mt Kenya region.
The group includes the commission’s CEO Nancy Macharia, Staffing Director Rita Wahome, her Quality Assurance counterpart Rueuben Mugwuku, Charles Gichira heading ICT, as well as Isaak Ng’ang’a of the Internal Audit department.
“When you take a close look at the composition of senior managers and commissioners at the TSC, it is evident that Mount Kenya region is favoured as it has the lion’s share,” she adds in the petition.
In the list shared in the petition, only two positions are occupied by members of the Rift Valley and Nyanza communities.
The remaining slots are shared among the rest.
Interestingly, all the lucrative positions that come with better pay and higher trappings of power have all been allocated to those who hail from the Mountain region.
The cartels united by greed use these offices as avenues for minting millions of shillings through shoddy deals.
For instance, whispers at the commission intimate that Rita Wahome’s office is notorious for taking advantage of desperate teachers in search of employment or transfers.
At the Internal Audit Department, Isaak Ng’ang’a is countlessly mentioned in multi-billion tendering scandals involving the procurement of insurance services for teachers.
In Reuben Mugwuku’s case, controversy surrounds the manner in which he landed his plum directorial role.
This has always been a topic of discussion at the headquarters.
Additionally, Mugwuku’s name prominently features in the recent issuance of millions of shillings towards the training of teachers programme.
Proving that greed has no tribe, Finance Director Cheptumo Ayabei is also said to be part of the powerful cartel at TSC.
Other commissioners at the agency include: Deputy Commission Secretary Kennedy Mulunda, Director of Administrative Services Ibrahim Mumin, Human Resource Manager Julius Olayo, Mary Rotich of Field Services and Calvin Anyuor who handles Legal, Labour and Industrial relations.
Section 7 of the Act provides for ethnic diversity in the staffing of public entities and provides that all public establishments shall seek to represent the diversity of the people of Kenya in the employment of staff.
The law further goes on to state that no public establishment shall have more than one-third of its staff from the same ethnic community.
