Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has invited interested and competent people to apply for the 10 county cabinet positions to serve in his administration.
The announcement comes two months after he was sworn into office on September 15 as the second county boss, taking over from pioneer two-term Governor Hassan Joho.
Governor Nassir has also invited applications for the positions of 16 chief officers and one county secretary.
Addressing the media at his offices Nassir announced that he had set up three committees made up of professionals to help him pick and vet individuals to fill the positions advertised.
“I have already written to the county public service board to immediately hire those who will be picked for chief officer positions as the rest face the assembly for vetting,” said Nassir.
Nassir said that the decision to advertise for the positions was to ensure that Mombasa gets the ‘right people with the right qualifications to serve’ in their dockets.
However he said he will eventually have a cabinet that is a mix of old and new, professionals and technocrats, politicians and a gender balanced public service.
“The law allows me to pick individuals, but I saw it wise to involve professionals to help me pick the individuals to serve in my administration. We want to ensure we have professionals who are also in tune with my campaign manifesto and vision for the coastal city,” he said.
The committee that will vet those applying for the county executive positions will be led by an individual from Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Mombasa chapter.
The committee will also have Mahmoud Noor who currently chairs the Finance Taskforce and will be joined by Ali Ahmed from the taskforce too.
Other members will include Pastor Abrahim Charo to represent the church, Sheikh Hamad Kassim, former Chief Kadhi to represent Muslims, Benjamin Njoroge former Mombasa Law Society chairman and a representative from the Mombasa diaspora council.
Dr. Wilfred Githinji, a don at Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) will chair the committee to pick the new County Secretary.
He will be joined with a representative from KNCCI Mombasa chapter, Oscar Juma from Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Mwinyi Bwika from Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and a representative from the county government workers union.
“I have advertised these positions and would like to welcome those who feel they are qualified to apply regardless of their political, religious and tribal affiliations,” he said.
The county chief denied rumours that he has taken long to announce his cabinet because of interference from powerful forces within and outside of the county.
However, Nassir has downplayed the reports, saying he wants to give everyone an equal opportunity to serve.
“These are just rumours, it is actually not true. There is not even a single person or the so-called powerful forces who I believe don’t even exist that have interfered with my affairs,” Nassir said.
He added that the whole process will be done within the next ten days after receiving an interview list from the committees.
The County executive slots to be filled include Lands, Housing and Urban Planning, Water Natural Resources and Climate change resilience, Environment and solid waste management, Transport and infrastructure.
Others are Health, Finance and economic planning, Blue economy, Agriculture and Livestock, Public service administration, youth gender and Tourism Culture, Gender and Trade development.
The positions for Chief Officers will include a chief officer in Policy and planning, Governance, Tourism culture and trade, Blue economy agriculture and livestock and Youth gender and social services.
Others will be Public service administration, Education and digital transformation, Lands housing and urban planning, Water and sanitation, Renewable energy natural resources and climate change resilience,
Environment and solid waste management, Transport and infrastructure, public health and disease prevention, clinical services and finance and economic planning.
By Hussein Abdullahi
