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The appointment blunder surrounding Former West Mugirango MP Vincent Kemosi Mogaka's nomination as Kenya's High Commissioner to Ghana has stirred public concern.
The National Assembly Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations Chair, Nelson Koech on May 6 shed light on the issue, attributing it to an unfortunate error in the communication pipeline.
Kemosi, initially nominated by President William Ruto for the prestigious diplomatic role, declined the position, citing personal reasons.
However, despite his refusal to undergo vetting by the NA Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations, his name was erroneously gazetted for the role.
Chairman Koech said that the mishap may have occurred during the transmission of names to the government printer.
"It's probably an omission, but it also tells you that there are a lot of lazy people because that is a serious document," remarked Koech, expressing concern over the oversight.
He emphasised that such errors should have been rectified before the official gazette notice was released.
"Actually, it should have been an eyecatcher for anyone who was sending the names, that, of course, Kemosi had not even come for the interview, he had declined the nomination by the president and of course, someone should have noticed it.
"It tells you that they are extremely many lazy people who are in the government printer or the officers who are responsible for submitting the name,” he added.
The Belgut MP further elaborated on the procedural aspects, highlighting the communication protocol followed after the National Assembly approves the nominees.
"Ordinarily, after we finish the vetting and the names are approved, they are sent back to the Office of the President, that is State House. It has to go to the Head of Public Service, and of course, he works with many other officers to ensure that the name is sent to the government printer for printing," he divulged.
Koech also revealed his efforts to rectify the situation upon discovering the error when the gazette notice was released on Friday.
"It was a terrible mistake. I saw it and made frantic calls. I called the PS in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; he told me it had nothing to do with him, the names were sent from elsewhere," he said.
Koech stressed the need for accountability, asserting, "It is unfortunate, and I think those officers who are responsible should account for it."
The NA Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations chair also expressed concern that this high-profile error may just be the tip of the iceberg, indicating a broader issue within the governmental system.
"It was a concern to many people, many people reached out, and even online you saw it was getting shared that the president has appointed someone who declined the offer," Koech remarked.
"It doesn’t look good that the president’s name has to pop up yet there are officers who have been given the mandate of ensuring the names sent to the government printer are accurate and have been vetted. It is a very serious omission," he added.
He elaborated on the potential ramifications of such oversights, suggesting that similar errors might have occurred unnoticed in the past.
"You might have to look at many other things that could have happened that went unnoticed…every time that board members or people are appointed to different organisations, the names have to come from different offices and have to be sent to the government printer then, of course, there might be something else that may have been sneaked in," Koech cautioned.
The government printer issued a notice revoking Kemosi's appointment