CS Joe Mucheru cancels appointment of the late Robert Kochalle, widow Charity Kochalle picked as replacement

CS Mucheru cancels appointment of dead man, appoints wife as replacement

Tony Mukere

October 18, 2019 12:47 PM

Kazi kwa wazee

ICT CS Joe Mucheru

ICT CS Joe Mucheru on Friday cancelled the appointment of Robert Kochalle as a director of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB).

The CS appointed Kochalle's widow, Charity Kochalle, as the replacement.

The appointment drew outrage, particularly on social media and Kenyans wondered why due diligence was not carried out in such high-level appointments.

KFCB CEO Ezekiel Mutua on Friday spoke in suppport of Joe Mucheru, saying the late Kochalle's appointment was a "small issue" borne out of a technical mistake on the part of the KFCB board.

"Small issue being blown out of proportion. The Board presented the notification to the Ministry for replacement and inadvertently he was reappointed. It was not CS Mucheru's mistake at all as the conversation started when KFCB was under under Ministry of Sports & Culture," Mutua said.

It did not help matters that the appointment had come at a time when there was uproar over the appointment of senior citizens to high-level positions.

Former Othaya MP Mary Wambui was recently appointed to chair the National Employment Authority that is at the heart of solving the employment challenges facing young people.

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, who is the architect of the law establishing NEA, has moved to court challenging Wambui's appointment on the basis that she does not hold the requisite qualifications.

Tony Mukere