KeRRa director general Philemon Kandie will be given an ultimatum to resign as pressure mounts on him after being snubbed by President William Ruto after he tried to meet him recently.
The president is seeking to revoke many appointments that were hastily and illegally made and replace the removed people with people that share his vision.
Most board appointments made by president Uhuru have been revoked and replaced with different people the next being state parastatals like KeRRa where the director generals have the security of tenure hence the reason why one has to be forced to resign themselves.
According to those close to the William Ruto regime, Philemon Kandie will sabotage his agenda given that he was strongly against his presidential bid. Philemon Kandie has been Gideon Moi's person and he is the one who lobbied for him to be appointed. Gideon Moi lobbied for the appointment of KeRRa boss Philemon Kandie Further reports indicate that the DG might have used KeRRa money to fund Azimio campaigns, something the Transport CS may be tasked to investigate.
Corruption at the keRRA is not a secret. In 2020, a senior official at keRRA was found with assets in excess of Sh1.5 billion despite him earning a relatively modest monthly salary of Sh390,000, triggering investigations into the source of his wealth.
Benson Muteti Musila, a regional manager of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra), was put to task to explain how he acquired his vast wealth of 35 assets, including land and other real estate property in Nairobi, Makueni and Kilifi counties which are managed by his spouse, Zipporah Mwongeli.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) raised the red flag on Mr Musila’s wealth on suspicion that he was a beneficiary of kickbacks from road contractors through an account at the KCB Bank Kilifi branch. He, however, denied the claims and rushed to court seeking to block the EACC from investigating the wealth he co-owned with his wife, alleging a violation of his rights.
Anti-Corruption Court judge Mumbi Ngugi however dismissed Mr Musila’s petition and allowed the EACC to investigate the source of his wealth. Justice Ngugi said it was in the public interest that the investigative bodies are allowed to carry out their mandates without interference, adding that there must be very clear and cogent reasons for the court to interfere with the exercise of their powers.
In 2021, KERRA procurement official Margaret Muthui came under probe by EACC. EACC said Muthui was under probe over suspicious transactions. Muthui’s accounts were frozen after paying Ksh264m in cash for 11 apartments.
Asset Recovery Agency asked the court to freeze assets and bank accounts after they argued Muthui’s properties were proceeds of crime