‘Rejected’ Teachers Service Commission chair candidate re-interviewed

By Martin Mutua

Nairobi, Kenya: The saga surrounding the appointment of a new Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chairperson has taken a new twist after a nominee who was rejected by Parliament was re-interviewed, The Standard has learnt.

The nominee, Mr Kiragu wa Magochi, who is being fronted by some top officials at the Office of the President, was re-interviewed by the Prof James Kamunge-led panel over the weekend.

Magochi was rejected early this year when his name was forwarded to Parliament even after coming second in the interviews.

The move came even after the High Court ordered the panel to forward the list of the short-listed candidates interviewed by the panel.

Sources disclosed that the panel forwarded the names of three candidates last month to President Uhuru Kenyatta for appointment.

The names included that of Dr Lydia Nzomo, the Director of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, who scored the highest among three nominees for the position.

Other nominees are former Education Permanent Secretary George Godia and a TSC employee, Simon Kavisi.

Prof Godia was not among those shortlisted in the initial list. His name was sneaked in during the new process that the High Court had stopped in one of its rulings on the matter.

This is the second time that Nzomo is topping the list arising from interviews by the Kamunge panel but it seems some powerful individuals at the Office of the President have been working round the clock to frustrate her appointment.