Public Service Commission chairperson Anthony Muchiri.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has for the third time re-advertised for vacancies in a civilian board created to oversee the excesses of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
The latest push to recruit the members of the Intelligence Service Complaints Board has raised questions of possible interference and sabotage in having the body operational, close to 12 years since it was supposed to have been set up. The civilian spy agency board is similar to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
There has been a long-running push and pull in having the board in place, with PSC only initiating the recruitment after the High Court in 2020 ordered the State to make the appointments.
But efforts to recruit the team have always stalled with PSC ending up placing fresh calls for application, with no much progress from the previous exercise.
On Friday, PSC Chairman Anthony Muchiri did not immediately respond to Nation.Africa’s enquiries on why the commission has twice failed to recruit members of the board.
In the re-advertisement, PSC has called for an application to fill the position of the board chairman, and three members. The three slots are to be filled by a retired senior intelligence officer, an advocate and an individual from the public service.
According to the Act, the board is made up of five members. They include a chairperson, who is qualified to be a judge of the High Court and four other members.
The four members include a person nominated by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), an advocate of not less than seven years standing, a retired senior intelligence officer and another who has at least at least seven years-experience in public service.
“Pursuant to the provisions of section 66 of the National Intelligence Service Act, 2012, the Public Service Commission invites applications from suitably qualified persons to be considered for nomination for appointment to the positions of the chairperson and member of Intelligence Service Complaints Board,” PSC said in the advertisement published Friday with a deadline of December 30, 2024 .
The commission had in the previous re-advertisement given December 5, 2023 as the deadline for application. But there was no communication on the process since then until the current re-advertisement.
There have been claims that the process was deliberately being frustrated by those in the system so that they can continue “influencing NIS operations.”
The board was enacted by the National Intelligence Service Act, 2012 (NISA) but for more than 12 years, successive administrations have failed to establish it.
The board’s main work is to inquire and receive complaints from aggrieved parties on the operations of the NIS Director General or any other member of the service.
“If during the inquiry, the board receives evidence of a breach of duty or misconduct against any member of the Service, it shall notify the Cabinet Secretary and the Council or the Director-General, as the case may be, and subject to the provisions of this Act, recommend appropriate disciplinary action against such officer,” the Act states.
In the past, there have been complaints against the government’s surveillance on citizens as a violation of civil liberties among other accusations.
In 2020, the High Court ordered the State to appoint the board’s five members. This was after the human rights lobby Katiba Institute went to court on the matter. The petitioner argued that the provision had not been properly implemented as required by the constitution.
The petition argued that citizens have limited recourse whenever their rights are violated by the intelligence service.
“Per the petitioner, the failure to operationalise the board compromises the rights of citizens to fair administrative action against wrongful actions of the director general and the members of the NIS,” the court papers state.
“Such omission, the argument goes, also runs the risk that the NIS could run without any oversight mechanism, contrary to the dictates of the Constitution, like its predecessor the Special Branch.”
In an interview with Nation.Africa on the stalled recruitment, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni said those in power are suspicious of having such a body in place because it will put NIS in the spotlight just like IPOA has done with the National Police Service.
“What happens in our country is that intentions are always noble but when it comes to implementation, those in power become suspicious. We also have a scenario where those who come up with these good ideas are not the ones in authority to implement them,” said Mr Kioni.
But Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa told Nation.Africa the provision for the creation of the board should be deleted through a miscellaneous amendment since it is unnecessary.
“It is not a wise idea to have a body to oversee the NIS, which operates in secrecy. It would be a waste of resources because NIS only gathers information and gives it to relevant agencies to act,” said Mr Barasa, who belongs to the ruling UDA party.
