Stalemate at NACADA as CEO stays put even after expiry of his term

An attempt by the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) Chief Executive Officer William Okedi to stay in office after the expiry of his contract has ignited a vicious power struggle at the authority and brought its operations to a standstill.

Documents in our possession show that Dr Okedi’s five-year contract expired on April 2, 2015, but he is eligible for another five-year term. He has already requested for an extension, but trouble is that he is currently 58 years old.

This means if the five-year extension he requested is granted by the board, it will entitle him to work beyond the statutory retirement age of 60 for civil servants. The board is to sit and endorse the new term and recommend Okedi’s reappointment to the Cabinet Secretary of Interior and Co-ordination Joseph Nkaissery, who is the appointing authority.

There is no functioning board at NACADA. Nkaissery has reportedly appointed a new board, which cannot function until it is gazetted. The date of the board’s gazettement has also not been communicated to the authority.

.

Keep Reading business

•  NCPB sets in motion plans to compensate farmers for fake fertiliser
•  Governors reject revenue Bill, demand Sh439.5 billion allocation
•  Firm linked to fake fertiliser calls for arrest of Linturi, NCPB boss Premium
•  KPLC to pay Sh500 million for Nakumatt fire tragedy
•  Scented success: Passion for cologne birthed my venture Premium

On April 11, 2015 NACADA Chairman John Mututho wrote to Dr Okedi and informed him that non-disclosure of his age at the point of requesting for extension and failure by the authority to scrutinise and interrogate the same had complicated the issue.

“It is therefore only fair that you vacate office and hand over as earlier advised. On our part at the board, we will prioritise your matter in the first meeting and advise the CS accordingly,” read part of Mututho’s letter.

The standoff has grounded crucial projects, some of which had been approved, including the commencement of treatment and rehabilitation of alcohol and drug addicts for which Parliament approved Sh90 million.

The stalemate has also grounded the testing of alcoholic drinks, a crucial aspect of weeding out dangerous drinks to which hundreds of Kenyans have lost their lives in the past five years. The Sh20 million allocated for testing of alcoholic beverages is lying idle as over 3,000 types of alcohol gather dust at Nacada’s 16th floor office at NSSF building in Nairobi.

The authority has suspended all forms of payments and procurement of goods and services until the stalemate is resolved. It even wrote to its bankers, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and National Bank of Kenya about a fortnight ago instructing them not to honour any requests for payment from Nacada.

“In line with prudent financial management and possibility of suspicious transactions, kindly suspend all activity in the above account until advised by the board by way of a resolution,” reads part of the letter signed by Mututho and copied to then Principal Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government.

Mututho’s letter to the banks is dated April 10, 2015. Incidentally, five days after it was delivered, Okedi’s gratuity of Sh2.7 million was paid through one of the authority’s accounts, leading to questions of how it was approved and why the bank defied instructions not to honour any payments.

Questions were also asked why Okedi continued to stay in office after receiving his gratuity and without valid endorsement by the minister for Interior or the authority’s board. But on April 15, the Principal Secretary in the Interior ministry, Ambassador Monica Juma wrote a two-paragraph letter to Mututho, which was non-committal about the fate of the Chief Executive, but urged the ‘board’ to continue operating.

“The Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, has directed that the board should continue with its normal activities until he gives a date for briefing. Please take the necessary action,” wrote Ms Juma.

Leadership dilemma

It is not clear which board she was referring to, given that a board has already been appointed but is yet to be gazetted, but Okedi did not elaborate what the whole situation means when asked to clarify the matter. “The appointing authority is the CS for Interior so direct all those questions to him,” said Okedi when asked to comment.

The unease at Nacada has greatly compromised the war against illicit brews. In the last five years alone, more than 200 people have died in the country as a result of illicit spirits with many more losing their sight. Last May, up to 78 people died after consuming illicit spirits in Embu and other parts of the country.

Medical experts indicate that about 10 millilitres of pure methanol can destroy the optic nerve, rendering a drinker blind, but with over 3000 alcoholic drinks still waiting to be tested at Nacada offices since last year due to the leadership dilemma, Kenyans may find themselves even more exposed.

At least 78 manufacturing lines of alcoholic beverages are still under investigation as a result of the deaths occasioned by the consumption of drinks laced with methanol.