Men Outshine Women in Njiraini’s Succession at KRA as Five Candidates are Shortlisted

Women have taken the back seat in the succession of the former Commissioner General John Njiraini’s post at the Kenya Revenue and Authority (KRA).

In an all men affair, KRA has published a list of five men who continue in the race to succeed Njiraini.

The five front runners according to KRA are Mr. Richard Boro Ndung’u, Mr. Julius Waita Mwatu, Mr. Andrew Kazora Okello, Mr. James Githii Mburu and Mr. Duncan Otieno Onduru has been shortlisted from a previous 30 applicants who only included two women.

KRA noted that the applications had been thoroughly scrutinized to ensure they conformed with the set and published requirements in the media which brought them down to the five candidates set to attend the final interviews.

The Kenya Revenue Authority board has invited members of the public who could be in possession of any information that would enable the board to assess the suitability of the five to write to it before the deadline which will be May 31^st, 2019.

Njiraini’s term as the Commissioner General at the KRA came to an end on 29^th April 2019. Njiraini celebrated his 60^th birthday, which is the mandatory set age for retirement on 19^th December 2017.

Lawyer Okiya Omtatah challenged Njiraini’s tenure in office in court but was squarely defeated when the government removed the retirement age for State Corporations Chief Executive Officers.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit firm is contracted to recruit the next commissioner-general who will be one of the five men shortlisted.

Njiraini is said to have enjoyed the protection of President Uhuru Kenyatta who sent half of the KRA board home at one point and extended the Commissioner General time in office by a month.

Njiraini’s office remains closed despite struggles to find him a suitable successor and rumors of having another 6 months extension of his term at the KRA helm.