Lead image for Omtatah loses bid to oust Gender Commission boss over qualifications.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has upheld Dr Purity Muthoni Ngina’s appointment as chief executive officer of the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) despite a qualification gap.
The court found that at the time of her appointment in July 2024, Dr Ngina did not meet the Commission’s 2019 Career Progression Guidelines requirement for more than 15 years of public administration experience.
Justice Jemimah Keli nevertheless ruled that she met the lower statutory requirements under Section 21 of the National Gender and Equality Commission Act, making the appointment lawful. The court said the statute was superior to the internal guidelines and therefore there was no basis to invalidate her appointment.
The decision followed a petition by Senator Okiya Omtatah, who challenged Dr Ngina’s recruitment and appointment alleging that NGEC manipulated the job advertisement and that it lowered the qualifications to favour her.
He also claimed that the Commission failed to advertise the vacancy through a newspaper with nationwide circulation and allowed a conflicted person to participate in the recruitment process.
The case was centered on whether NGEC could rely on statutory minimums while its guidelines set higher requirements for the CEO.
The 2019 Career Progression Guidelines required a CEO to have more than 15 years’ public-administration experience, including 10 years at management level, as well as specified academic and leadership qualifications.
The NGEC Act requires citizenship, a recognised university degree, at least 10 years’ proven management experience, extensive public administration experience and compliance with Chapter Six of the Constitution.