‘I am still in office…’ – Francis Wangusi

Francis Wangusi, the Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has denied allegations that he has been sent on compulsory leave pending the expiry of his first term as CA’s Director General.

He said this at a press briefing held today at the CA headquarters in Nairobi.

The allegations that he was sent on compulsory leave came up following an advertisement that was placed on CA’s website, advertising a vacancy in his position.

“Some of the stories you have seen are not true because as you can see I am still in office, I am working and I will continue to discharge my duties until the expiry of my contract at which point I will consult with those around me and make a decision on whether or not to re-apply,” said Wangusi.

The advertisement however comes a few days after it was announced during the Connected East Africa Summit by the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT Dr. Fred Matiang’I that there were plans underway to restructure the regulatory board and its board by 2016, so as to enhance a new ICT sector in Kenya complete with effective research and development capacity on its operations.

Wangusi also denied allegations made earlier on the dailies that the search for the new DG had since sparked off a vicious court battle pitting the board against the agency’s executives.

Speaking during the briefing CA Chairman of Board of Directors, Mr. Ben Gituku said that, “The Director-General’s term as per his contract is coming to an end in August this year and the board begun the process of finding a new director general six months to this date going by the provisions of the Kenya Information and Communication Act (KICA) 2013, hence the advertisement we placed in the media.”

Under the Kenya Information and Communication Act (KICA) 2013, the director- general serves for a term of four years renewable once. The DG’s terms and conditions of service are determined by the board in consultation with the Public Service Commission.

Wangusi took over as CA’s Director General back in 2012 on an acting capacity from Charles Njoroge, and was later officially named as CA’s Director General in August 2013. He has since steered some of the core issues in the sector including the Digital Migration, Safaricom’s market dominance among other things.

He has also helped to steer the Universal Service Fund that currently stands Kshs 2.6 billion with a target to hit Kshs 4 billion by end of this year.