Eliud Owalo, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT), has officially terminated the contract of Samuel Maina, who was serving as the acting Managing Director at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
The decision, communicated through a letter dated December 19, cited serious allegations of financial impropriety against Maina.
Owalo accused Maina of unilaterally committing the government to a substantial payment of over Ksh750 billion in an arbitration case involving the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, without obtaining the necessary authorizations from key government bodies.
The letter specifically pointed out the failure to seek approval from the Ministry, National Treasury, and the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice.
As a result of these allegations, Owalo declared in the letter, “The appointment of Mr. Samuel Maina as acting Managing Director is terminated with immediate effect.” He further directed Maina to proceed on suspension immediately, pending disciplinary action by the Board.
To fill the void left by Maina, Owalo appointed Paul Macharia, currently serving as the Communication Economic Expert at the National Communications Secretariat under the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy. Macharia will assume the role of Acting Managing Director, effective from Tuesday, December 19, for a period of six months.
The letter from the ICT CS also urged the KBC board to expedite the recruitment process for a substantive Managing Director for the corporation, signaling the need for a swift transition in leadership.
Samuel Maina, a former Vice-President of the Kenya Editors’ Guild, had been appointed as Acting Managing Director following the expiration of Naim Bilal’s contract on March 19, 2022. The sudden termination of Maina’s contract has raised questions and is likely to impact the leadership dynamics at KBC in the coming months.
