Parliament reverses appointment

Parliament has been forced to reverse the irregular appointment of a staff member who was hired, despite the majority of an interview panel having refused to approve what they termed an “imposed” appointment.

The appointment of the internal staff member, whose name is known to The Citizen, caused a lot of ruction within the parliamentary communication division, where two vacant posts of Principal Communication Officers were supposed to be filled in July last year.

A four-member panel, who was appointed to interview the 16 shortlisted candidates, was unanimous on the appointment of an internal candidate for the first post but were divided on the second candidate, an external woman who beat all other candidates in interview, practical and psychometric tests.

In her place, an internal male candidate was recommended, resulting in three of the four panellists objecting and refusing to sign approval of the appointment.

Documents obtained by The Citizen show that the panellists were unhappy that the internal candidate was recommended.

A total of 1 036 applications were received for the two posts. The final five shortlisted went through evaluation that included psychometric testing.

The external candidate received the highest score with the male at the centre of the storm getting the lowest score.

“The vacancy has not been filled owing to serious objections and concerns raised and allegations in respect of the process. Parliament is dealing with this matter formally,” said parliament in a statement.