The KETRACO CEO recruitment process is facing fresh scrutiny after the Public Service Commission (PSC) opened investigations into claims that Acting Managing Director Engineer Kipkemoi Kibias has remained in office beyond the legal limit.
Kibias has served as acting managing director since 19 September 2025. Under Section 34(3) of the Public Service Commission Act, acting appointments may not exceed six months, meaning his tenure would have expired in March 2026 unless lawfully extended.
The complaint, filed by Felix Willium Nandi, prompted PSC Chief Executive Paul Famba to write to KETRACO Board Chairman Capt. Mohamed Abdi on 16 July 2026, giving the board 14 days to respond. The petition also seeks recovery of any acting allowances and per diems allegedly paid after the statutory period expired.
Questions Over the KETRACO CEO Recruitment
The controversy intensified after KETRACO’s first advertisement for a substantive chief executive was withdrawn in April 2026 following legal objections.
Critics argued the advert imposed qualifications beyond those required under the Government-Owned Enterprises Act, 2025, including a mandatory master’s degree, higher experience thresholds and Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) clearance. The advertisement also ran for 20 days instead of the statutory minimum of 21 days, rendering the recruitment vulnerable to legal challenge.
After receiving a demand letter from lawyers, KETRACO withdrew the advert and later republished a revised version without the disputed requirements.
The petition before the PSC alleges Kibias cancelled the original recruitment process and benefited from the resulting delay. Those allegations remain unproven.
Governance Challenges at KETRACO
The KETRACO CEO recruitment dispute comes amid wider governance concerns.
Former Managing Director Dr John Mativo left office before completing his term following reports of internal investigations into procurement and financial management. While allegations involving billions of shillings have circulated publicly, KETRACO has not officially confirmed the findings or announced recoveries arising from those claims.
Meanwhile, the company’s board has faced repeated legal challenges.
Earlier this year, the High Court suspended the reappointment of several board members following a petition alleging ethnic imbalance in KETRACO’s senior leadership. Although that case was later struck out on procedural grounds, a separate petition successfully halted the appointment of three newly gazetted directors, with the court suspending board resolutions made during their tenure.
The Nandi petition argues that these legal disputes have left KETRACO operating without a fully constituted board while an acting chief executive continues serving beyond the statutory period.
Financial Questions Continue
Governance concerns have also coincided with financial scrutiny.
Appearing before Parliament’s Public Investments Committee, Kibias faced questions over a Sh75.6 million discrepancy between KETRACO’s records and Kenya Power’s accounts, as well as Sh2.3 billion in unpaid wayleave compensation owed to affected landowners.
Separately, the Employment and Labour Relations Court reinstated a senior KETRACO manager who had been placed on compulsory leave under Kibias’ administration.
Why the PSC Investigation Matters
The PSC investigation comes at a critical time for KETRACO.
The company is pursuing transmission projects worth up to Sh65 billion under public-private partnership arrangements and previously signed a Sh40.4 billion transmission agreement involving Africa50 and India’s POWERGRID.
The outcome of the PSC inquiry could determine not only whether Kibias lawfully remained in office but also whether public funds paid as acting allowances should be recovered and whether the delayed KETRACO CEO recruitment process complied with Kenya’s public service laws.
