The battle over who should lead the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) has taken another dramatic turn after the Public Service Commission (PSC) issued a 14-day ultimatum to the company's board, warning that it will determine a petition seeking the removal of Acting Managing Director Eng. Kipkemoi Kibias if the board fails to respond.

What started as the recruitment of a new chief executive has now turned into one of the biggest governance disputes involving a State corporation this year.

At the centre of the dispute are Acting Managing Director Eng. Kipkemoi Kibias, KETRACO Board Chairman Mohamed Abdi, former Managing Director John Mativo, PSC Chief Executive Paul Famba, and petitioner Felix Willium Nandi.

How did KETRACO get here? ¶

The leadership crisis began in September 2025 after John Mativo was removed from office before completing his three-year term. Mativo himself had taken over after Fernandes Barasa resigned to contest the Kakamega governorship in 2022.

Following Mativo's exit, the board appointed Eng. Kipkemoi Kibias as Acting Managing Director.

Under the Public Service Commission Act, acting appointments are generally limited to six months.

Kibias has now remained in the acting position for about ten months, becoming one of the main issues raised in the petition before the PSC.

Instead of appointing a substantive chief executive within the expected period, KETRACO's recruitment process became entangled in legal disputes.

The company first advertised the Managing Director position earlier this year.

That advertisement immediately attracted protests from lawyers, who argued that the board had inserted qualifications that were not provided for under the Government Owned Enterprises Act, 2025.

Among the disputed requirements were additional clearance certificates and qualifications that critics said unlawfully narrowed the pool of applicants. Faced with threats of court action, KETRACO withdrew the advertisement.

A second advertisement followed.

This time, the board removed several of the controversial requirements, including mandatory tax, debt and integrity clearance certificates.

Yet the legal challenges did not end.

Another petition was later filed seeking to stop the recruitment altogether, arguing that the revised process still violated the law.

Why is the acting CEO under pressure? ¶

The petition filed before the PSC accuses Acting Managing Director Eng. Kipkemoi Kibias of remaining in office beyond the legally permitted acting period.

The petitioner also questions whether Kibias has continued receiving acting allowances and per diems beyond the statutory limit.

Another allegation is that the acting CEO benefited from delays in recruiting a substantive Managing Director after the first recruitment advertisement was cancelled and replaced, leading to prolonged court battles.

These are allegations contained in the petition. They have not been determined by the PSC.

A board facing its own problems ¶

The recruitment dispute comes as KETRACO's board is facing separate legal challenges.

Last month, the Employment and Labour Relations Court barred three newly appointed board members from assuming office after petitioners challenged the legality of their appointments.

The case argues that the appointments were made on the very day applications for board positions were due to close, raising questions about the integrity of the recruitment exercise.

That court case has left the board struggling to achieve quorum at a time when it is expected to oversee one of the country's most important infrastructure agencies.

Why this matters

KETRACO is not an ordinary State corporation.

It is responsible for building and managing Kenya's electricity transmission network.

The company is currently pursuing several multi-billion shilling electricity projects, including high-voltage transmission lines expected to cost up to KSh65 billion through public private partnerships.

Those projects require stable leadership and timely decision making.

Instead, the organisation finds itself battling petitions, lawsuits, recruitment disputes and boardroom uncertainty.

The company has also spent months dealing with costly legal disputes, including long-running contractor claims involving billions of shillings.

PSC draws a line ¶

The PSC has now instructed Board Chairman Mohamed Abdi to respond to the petition within 14 days.

Its letter makes it clear that if the board fails to respond, the Commission will determine the complaint without waiting any longer.

That warning has significantly raised the stakes.

If the PSC finds merit in the petition, it could reshape KETRACO's leadership before the company appoints a substantive Managing Director.

For a State corporation entrusted with building Kenya's electricity transmission infrastructure, the immediate challenge is no longer just delivering power projects.

It is restoring confidence in its leadership, governance and recruitment process.