Nairobi — A record 197 people have expressed interest in the top positions at the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission left vacant after Justice Aaron Ringera and his two deputies resigned.

The revelations were made on Tuesday as the commission's top decision-making organ, the advisory board, met to scrutinise applications for the posts.

A board member who declined to be named said the applicants included several prominent lawyers and former civil servants.

"The process to scrutinise the applications is still going on and we are still not going to reveal the names of the applicants because it will appear like we care favouring them," he said.

He added: "We spent the whole day yesterday trying to sift through the applications to ensure that they meet all the qualifications set."

He said they will be meeting again today to continue with the process until all applications were scrutinised. The deadline for those intending to apply elapsed last week.

Justice Ringera and his two deputies, Dr Smokin Wanjala and Ms Fatuma Sichale, resigned earlier this month following pressure from Parliament and civil society groups, who argued that their re-appointment by President Kibaki was illegal.

Before resigning, Ms Sichale was in charge of Legal Services while Dr Wanjala was the head of Research, Education, Policy and Preventive Services.

MPs and the groups said the President did not follow the law while making the re-appointments. According to them, the advisory board is supposed to conduct interviews before forwarding names of suitable candidates to Parliament for vetting.

President Kibaki will then be required to step in and gazette the names of the new officers.

The applicants were supposed to be holders of at least a university degree with knowledge of the law.

For one to qualify to be a director, one must also have another relevant post-graduate degree in either law, public administration, accounting, financial matters or investigation of fraud and corruption.

"The candidate should have served for at least 15 years in public service or in a senior management position with relevant experience in any of the fields mentioned above," the advert read.