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Kebs hunts for new MD amid Bernard Njiraini’s suspension
Tuesday July 18 2023
Suspended Kenya Bureau of Standards managing director Bernard Njiraini. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has started the hunt for a substantive managing director to replace Bernard Njiraini, who was suspended over the alleged release of condemned sugar to the public.
He was replaced by Esther Ngari in May on an acting basis.
Mr Njiraini, alongside others, has been charged in court.
In a Tuesday notice, signed by the National Standards Council, the eligible candidates have until August 8 to send in applications, an indication the State agency could be jumping the gun as Mr Njiraini is still on half pay pending determination of the case.
Read: Njiraini, 7 others charged with stealing condemned sugar
“The managing director reports to the National Standards Council (NSC), provides strategic leadership and implements the NSC’s decisions in accordance with the organisation’s strategic plan,” reads the notice.
Read: Former Family Bank CEO to chair standards council
The successful applicant will be expected to restore public confidence in the agency that has for years been marred with controversy, with the latest being the mass suspension of six officials over the irregular release of a sugar consignment comprising 20,000 bags of 50 kilogrammes each that had been declared unfit for human consumption.
Among the six was Mr Njiraini, the MD since August 2019 on a three-year contract that was renewed last year.
Other Kebs officials sent home in the saga, include Geoffrey Muriira (Director of Quality Assurance and Inspection), Hilda Keror (Manager of Inspection, Mombasa Port Office), Liston Lagat (Assistant Manager -ICDN Nairobi), Stephen Owuor (a principal officer) and Peter Olima Joseph, who worked as an inspector in the Mombasa office.
The Kebs batch was part of a larger group of 27 drawn from other government bodies spanning the Kenya Revenue Authority, National Police Service, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Agriculture and Food Authority, Port Health, National Environment Management Authority, Anti-Counterfeit Agency, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and Kenya Port Authority.
Read: State suspends 27 top officers in 2018 Kebs sugar scandal
