PSC invites public to apply for positions Charity Ngilu wanted to appoint officers to

Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu when she appeared before a parliament committee over the appointments. [PHOTO: STANDARD/FILE]

By GEOFFREY MOSOKU

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Public Service Commission has caved to pressure and advertised vacancies for senior positions at the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

The advertised positions include the crucial position of Chief Lands Registrar, an office that is crucial in executing the signing of titles deeds and registration of titles.

On Wednesday PSC placed adverts in the dailies seeking application from qualified persons to tender their application within 14 days, perhaps due to the urgency to fill the vacant slots.

Apart from the Chief Lands Registrar, PSC is seeking to recruit two senior Deputy Chief Land Registrars, three deputy Chief Lands Registrars and 47 county land registrars.

The commission has is also seeking to fill the position of Director of Survey, two senior deputy directors of surveys and another two deputy director of surveys.

Last year, Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu raised a furore when she attempted to appoint the senior officers of the ministry, which attracted that attention of parliament that passed a motion to rescind the appointments.

And last month, the PSC approved Ngilu’s appointment of officers on acting capacity to await these recruitment. They included Peter Kahuho who replaced Zablon Mabea as Lands secretary, Jane Ndiba as acting chief lands registrar and Sarah Mwenda as deputy chief lands registrar.

However, their stay will be short-lived following this declaration of vacancies which have to be filled in accordance to the Lands Registration Act, 2012 which provides for a competitive recruitment exercise that must also encompass vetting by the PSC.

Ngilu had also attempted to transfer former director of survey Ephantus Murage and his Deputy Boaz Owino and replaced them with Ceasare Mbaria and Julius Rotich. This move was rescinded last year but Ngilu, managed to have her way in January this year after PSC appointed Mbaria and Rotich on acting capacity while Murage and Owino were redeployed to office of the president.

Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI) chairman Ibrahim Mwathane described the PSC move as the right step towards implementing the constitution and relevant land laws.

“It’s a positive move to have the PSC advertise and recruit officers competitively as outlined in the law; it’s a move we as stakeholders welcome,” Mwathane said.

Ngilu is also expected to forward on behalf of the National Lands Commission regulations for approval by the National Assembly to enable the NLC gazette officers who will sign land titles.