TSC Top Job Race Tightens as Ayabei Emerges as Main Challenger to Acting CEO Mitei
Allegations of cartel interference cloud the recruitment as five candidates prepare for Monday’s interviews
The race for the top job at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is shaping up as a two-horse contest. According to an investigative report, acting Secretary/CEO Dr. Evaleen Jesang Mitei faces stiff competition from the commission’s Director of Finance, Cheptumo Ayabei.
Five candidates have been shortlisted for interviews on Monday, 16 November 2026, but it is Ayabei who is reported to be mounting the most significant challenge to Mitei, who has led the commission in an acting capacity since June 2025.
The contest is not only about résumés. The same report alleges that powerful business interests, political figures and influential cartels are trying to shape the outcome of the recruitment.
These claims are allegations only. They have not been independently established, and nothing in the commission’s public notice suggests any irregularity in the process.
The race to succeed Macharia
Mitei took over the commission’s day-to-day leadership in June 2025, when Dr. Nancy Macharia’s decade-long term as Secretary/CEO came to an end.
The commission advertised the substantive vacancy on 29 September 2026 and closed applications on 30 October at 5:00 pm. By then it had received 124 applications.
After reviewing each for completeness and conformity with the legal requirements, TSC narrowed the field to five, roughly one in 25 applicants. The shortlisted candidates, in order of interview, are:
- Cheptumo Ayabei (Baringo County), 9:00 am
- Dr. Evaleen Jesang Mitei (Uasin Gishu County), 10:00 am
- Robert Odette (Migori County), 11:00 am
- Lawrence Ngai Kaburu (Tharaka Nithi County), 12:00 noon
- Farah Abdi Saman (Mandera County), 1:00 pm
All interviews will take place on the third floor (Tower) of TSC House in Upper Hill, Nairobi. Candidates must arrive at least 30 minutes before their slots.
The commission also published the full long list of 124 names alongside the shortlist, a transparency measure that lets anyone see who applied and who advanced.
What the job is, and why it matters
The Secretary/CEO is the commission’s chief administrative officer. Under Article 250(12) of the Constitution and section 16(1) of the TSC Act, the officer is appointed through a competitive process.
The holder heads the secretariat, serves as the commission’s Accounting Officer, is custodian of its records, and is the principal driver of executing commission decisions.
That includes supervising staff, ensuring public ethics compliance and enforcing Part IV of the Act.
The commission itself, established under Article 237 of the Constitution, registers and recruits teachers, deploys them to public schools, promotes and transfers them, and exercises disciplinary control.
It oversees one of the largest public workforces in the country, and the education sector takes up a significant share of the national budget.
Whoever wins will influence how efficiently the system serves teachers and millions of learners.
The package reflects that weight. According to the details published with the vacancy, the post carries a gross monthly salary of Kshs. 698,600, an official car of up to 3000cc, comprehensive medical cover, service gratuity of 31 percent of annual pensionable emoluments, and access to a car loan of up to Kshs. 6 million and a mortgage of up to Kshs. 30 million at a preferential 3 percent interest rate. The appointment runs for five years, renewable once, subject to performance.
To qualify, applicants must be Kenyan citizens, hold a degree in education from a university recognised in Kenya, and have at least ten years’ experience in education, administration and management, public administration, human resource management or financial management.
They must also satisfy the leadership and integrity requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution.
Mitei: the insider with institutional memory
Mitei brings three decades of institutional history to the contest. She joined TSC in 1994 as a teacher and moved to the commission’s secretariat in 1999.
She has held several senior positions, including Director of Teacher Discipline Management. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Moi University. Mitei was also recently awarded her PhD in Francisco in the United States.
She is the only woman on the shortlist, and her record is that of a career officer who rose through the ranks.
The report describes her as a strong contender. Her current role as acting CEO gives her visibility, but it does not guarantee her the substantive job.
Acting appointments are common in public institutions while permanent recruitment is under way, and the commission’s notice gives no indication that any candidate holds an advantage.
Mitei must pass the same interview, present the same original documents and undergo the same public scrutiny as the other four.
There is a further dynamic. An incumbent acting officer is judged on a visible record, and every decision made since June 2025 is open to assessment by the panel and by observers. A challenger can promise a fresh start without such a record to defend.
Ayabei: the finance director who has emerged as the main rival
Ayabei, listed in the notice as a candidate from Baringo County and a person with disability, is TSC’s Director of Finance.
That background is relevant. The CEO is the commission’s Accounting Officer, responsible for the proper use of public funds, and a finance director has direct experience of the commission’s budget and financial controls. On paper, his professional profile fits the role’s financial stewardship demands.
The report presents him as the candidate posing the most significant challenge to Mitei. It is worth being clear about the basis for this assessment.
It rests on the report’s account of the manoeuvring around the recruitment, and the commission has published nothing that ranks the candidates.
The five will be assessed at interview, and the panel’s scoring will determine who stands out.
The allegations
This is where the contest turns contentious. A blog the Kenya Insights alleges that healthcare businessman Jayesh Umesh Saini is a central figure seeking to influence the recruitment in favour of Ayabei.
It further alleges that millions of shillings have been deployed to sway the outcome, and that powerful political and business personalities are reportedly backing different candidates.
These claims need careful handling. They are allegations made in a media report. The report does not establish them as proven facts, and it says so itself.
Neither Mr. Saini nor Mr. Ayabei is shown in the material to have admitted anything, and the notice from the commission contains no reference to them.
A candidate cannot be blamed for what others allegedly do on his behalf, and being named in an investigative report as a beneficiary of alleged lobbying is not evidence of wrongdoing by that candidate.
Ayabei, like every other candidate, is entitled to the presumption of fairness, and any response he or Mr. Saini offers deserves equal prominence if it is made.
Why the medical scheme matters
The report argues that the stakes extend beyond one appointment because of the money surrounding teachers’ medical insurance.
It alleges that companies associated with Saini previously played major roles in administering the teachers’ medical scheme, which reportedly handled about Ksh17.9 billion annually at its peak and processed nearly Ksh161 billion over nine years.
It also raises claims of restricted access to medical services and preferential treatment of certain healthcare facilities.
If the figures are accurate, they explain why the CEO’s office draws such interest. The Secretary/CEO oversees the commission’s procurement and accounting functions, and contracts for services on this scale are the kind of lucrative prize that, in the report’s telling, attracts lobbying.
These are the report’s claims and they remain unverified. They do, however, raise a legitimate public-interest question about how the commission manages large contracts, and that question will outlast this recruitment.
A vetting process built to test integrity
The commission has built safeguards into the process that speak directly to the concerns now being raised. Each candidate must bring original copies of their national identity card, academic and professional certificates, and a long list of clearances.
These come from the Kenya Revenue Authority, the Higher Education Loans Board, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (through a self-declaration receipt or stamped form), a registered credit reference bureau, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation in the form of a police clearance certificate.
Candidates with foreign degrees need a letter of recognition from the Commission for University Education, and professional body clearances apply where relevant.
Taken together, these checks cover tax compliance, financial standing, criminal record, academic credentials and ethical conduct.
The Chapter Six integrity test is the most exacting of the legal requirements, and the clearance list shows how seriously the commission intends to apply it.
The commission has also opened the process to the public. TSC invited members of the public to submit “any credible information of interest” about any shortlisted candidate.
Submissions must be sworn affidavits, which deters frivolous claims, and had to reach the Chairperson on or before 13 November, which is today.
The commission says it may interview anyone who submits information and that such information will be treated as confidential.
The affidavit requirement carries a pointed implication. Anyone holding evidence of improper influence, in either direction, has had a formal channel to put it before the commission.
Allegations that circulate only in the media, without anyone willing to swear to them, will carry limited weight in the commission’s deliberations.
The bigger question
The Kenya Insights report frames the issue in stark terms: who will lead the TSC, and can the recruitment process withstand alleged political pressure, corporate influence and financial interests?
It argues that teachers deserve a CEO chosen on merit, integrity, competence and professional track record, not one imposed by business cartels or political godfathers.
The sentiment is hard to dispute, whatever one makes of the specific claims. A commission that hires and disciplines teachers cannot afford a perception that its own leadership was bought or brokered.
The commission’s best response is a process that is visibly clean: consistent scoring, documented reasons and a decision that stands up to scrutiny.
What to watch on Monday
The next few days are decisive. Public submissions closed today. The commission will weigh whatever it received before the candidates appear on Monday.
After the interviews, the commission is expected to deliberate and appoint under the Constitution and the TSC Act, though the notice does not say when the final decision will be announced.
Several things will be worth watching. The first is how the panel treats the contest between the incumbent acting CEO and the finance director, two candidates with very different institutional vantage points.
The second is whether the commission says anything publicly about the allegations in the report, or about how it handled public submissions.
The third is whether the outcome is explained in terms of merit, with clear criteria, rather than announced without reasoning.
For the five candidates, the immediate task is practical: gathering originals and securing clearances, some of which take time to process.
For the public, the more important test lies ahead. If the commission runs a rigorous, transparent process and the best candidate wins on the record, the cartel claims will be answered by the result. If it does not, they will linger.
The claims about bribery, lobbying and interference described in this article are allegations reported by Kenya Insights. They have not been independently established, and no wrongdoing by any named individual has been proven.
