Why Government has re-advertised position of Auditor General

The government will re-advertise the position of Auditor-General as from next week Tuesday  because of the inability of the selected panel to nominate three candidates for appointment.

The panel considered applications from 70 persons who had shown interest in the position and proceeded to short list 17 applicants 15 of whom were men and two women.

Giving the status in Nairobi Wednesday, Public Service Commission Chairman Stephen Kirogo said that the government will give prospective applicants 14 days to apply for the position and applications will be valid until December 30.

“A panel for the selection of nominees for appointment as Auditor-General will be selected not later than 14 days after the closure of the application window that is 12th January 2020,” said Kirogo.

The chair explained that shortlisting and publication of the selected candidates will be done within 14 days and interviews of the selected nominees to be done within 30 days.

“The appointment of the Auditor-General will be done not later than the first week of April 2020. It is important to know that the Auditor-General plays a crucial role in Kenya’s Public Finance management hence the government is committed to fast tracking the recruitment process,” added Kirogo

The Chairman of the Panel that was appointed to select the nominees for appointment Sammy Onyango said that the panel developed a criterion to conduct the interviews which ran between October 22 and 25.

“Based on the criteria that we set, we were unable to pick the minimum three nominees out of the 17 as required by the Public Audit Act,” said Onyango.

He added that the panel was not only looking for the technical qualification of the applicants but also the ability to work in collaboration with the three arms of the government.

“The interview looks deeper into the person and seeks one to uphold the independence of the office and must possess the diplomacy and tact to handle the duties ahead,” said the chair.

Onyango said that the office will remain vacant, however, the daily running of the office will continue and the only thing that will be missing is the signature of the office holder. --KNA