Kenyans may have to wait longer for a data commissioner as the public service commission (PSC) postponed the recruitment process. PSC suspended the current recruitment process citing noncompliance to the Data Protection Act (2019).
Lawyer Adrian Kamotho had moved to the Labour Court challenging the recruitment process and seeking to stop PSC from interviewing the applicants. The interviews were scheduled to start on July 7 after PSC published the list of applicants and shortlisted 10 candidates on June 25.
Kamotho who was among those who applied for the job and was not shortlisted argued that PSC scheduling the interviews on July 7 was more than two months after the statutory deadline thus amounts to abuse of power. He added that the process was an open violation to constitutional principle of transparency and affording equal opportunity to all persons.
Section 6 of the Data Protection act stipulates that PSC should within 21 days after receiving the application shortlist qualified applicants, publish and publicize the names of the applicants and the shortlisted candidates and conduct interviews of the shortlisted persons in an open process.
In addition, PSC should nominate three qualified applicants in the order of merit and submit the names to the president for appointment and approval of the National Assembly within the same timeline.
Office of the Solicitor General in conjunction with the Attorney General office has already approached the lawyer for an out of court settlement.
Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto says that the recruitment process will start afresh complying with the timelines of recruitment as set in section 6 of the Data Protection Act.
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