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{
    "id": 1003542,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1003542/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 160,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "The first Statement was on the dismissal and demotion of Dr. Joel Lutomiah from the position of Deputy Director, Centre for Virus Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). This Statement was sought by Sen. Malalah and Sen. Were who is here, a very strong Member from Amani National Congress (ANC). In the Statement, the two Senators sought to find out, among others, the reasons for demotion of Dr. Lutomiah from his position and whether due process was followed. We wrote to the Ministry and received a response on 26th. In the response, the Ministry stated that Dr. Lutomiah had not been sacked but relieved from that specific position of Deputy Director and Head of Centre for Virus Research. It was attributed to alleged delay in collecting and transmitting COVID-19 test results from all the KEMRI testing centres to the Ministry of Health on time. The Ministry further indicated that Dr. Lutomiah was due to present his side of view to the Human Resource Committee of the KEMRI Board. We considered this matter and we invited both Sen. Malalah and Sen. Were. We also invited Dr. Lutomiah who was demoted and heard of the circumstances that led to his demotion. The detailed response has been shared with both Senators. The preliminary observation of the Committee is that the demotion of Dr. Lutomiah was carried out in a rushed and unprocedural manner and did not comply with provisions of the Constitution, the Fair Administrative Action Act (No. 5 of 2015), as well as various Guidelines, Protocols and Manuals governing disciplinary action. Without going into the details of the allegations made against Dr. Lutomiah, we heard that on the material day, Dr. Lutomiah was alleged to have delayed collation and transmission of test results to the Ministry of Health, and by evening of the same day, he had been dismissed from his position. He was neither given the opportunity to be heard nor taken through a disciplinary process before the decision to dismiss him from the position was made. This was despite the officer having had an illustrious career at KEMRI before the said incident, without having had any performance or disciplinary issue raised against him. That being the case, the Committee has invited the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Health and the Director-General of KEMRI to a meeting with the Committee to deliberate on the matter on Thursday, 25th June, 2020, and I invite Sen. Malalah and Sen. Were to join the Committee in the said meeting. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}