Chief Justice Martha Koome has appointed Mara Heist whistleblower Spencer Ololchike Sankale as a member of the Tax Appeals Tribunal for a term of three years.
Koome made the appointment via a gazette notice dated May 19 in her capacity as chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
She appointed Sankale alongside 11 others as members of the tribunal.
Their three-year tenure took effect on May 10, 2023. They join a team of ten other members whose terms started in June 2022.
Sankale was sacked on June 19, 2021, after exposing an alleged financial scandal at the Maasai Mara University where he worked as Chief Finance Officer.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Mary Walingo was implicated in the alleged scandal leading to her suspension before the Employment and Labour Relations Court reinstated her on January 19, 2023.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa ordered the university to comply with the decision of the Public Service Commission issued in September 2022 that overruled its decision to terminate her employment.
Walingo had been sent home after a Citizen TV expose dubbed the Mara Heist implicated her in a Sh177 million corruption scandal in which Sankale exposed the alleged graft.
The university council would later fire him after accusing him of committing nine offences relating to gross misconduct.
Among the accusations leveled against him were incitement of staff and the general public against the university, gross insubordination and failure to act in the university's best interest.
He was also accused of defamation, and disregard for university standards and procedures.
“Due to the aforementioned, the council resolved to summarily terminate your employment with immediate effect according to Section44 (4), (d) and (g) of Employment Act 2007 (revised 2012),” the dismissal letter signed by Council chairman Dr. Kennedy Ole Kerei read.
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