The Information Cabinet Secretary, Eliud Owalo, is staring at jail time for allegedly failing to reinstate former KBC Managing Director Dr Naim Bilal, despite a court order issued more than three weeks ago to reappoint and gazette the CEO.
C.K. Musyoki & Company Advocates, lawyers for the former CEO, filed a contempt of court proceeding against Owalo at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi on Friday, November 25, 2022.
The lawyers are attempting to enforce Justice Ocharo Kebira’s October 31, 2022 judgment, which ordered Dr Bilal’s immediate reinstatement after former ICT CS Joe Mucheru failed to renew his contract in the run-up to the August General Elections, despite the KBC Board’s recommendation for renewal.
Mucheru acted “whimsically, capriciously, and unreasonably,” according to Justice Kebira of the ELRC, in refusing to reappoint Bilal, despite the Ministry having notified the Attorney General of its intention to renew the contract, and even going ahead to transmit a Gazette Notice for the reappointment, before withdrawing it hours later.
The documents added that Bilal received 89.53 percent in the Board Performance Evaluation for 2019/20 and 87.30 percent in the Board Performance Evaluation for 2020/21, which was overseen by the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC).
Justice Kebira noted in his decision that the former CS had violated Bilal’s constitutional and labor rights, and he ordered the Ministry to reappoint and gazette him as CEO of KBC for another three-year term.
He rejected the Ministry’s claim that it was free to disregard the Board’s proposal without providing justification.
He also denied that Bilal was only appointed for three years, citing his April 9, 2019 appointment letter and the Mwongozo Code of Governance (2015), which establishes the typical periods of service for CEOs of state businesses, including the KBC Act.
