Kenya Power has appointed Mr Geoffrey Wasua Muli as the firm’s acting managing director effective immediately, even as the utility company steps up the search for a substantive boss to take over from Bernard Ngugi, who left in August last year. Mr Muli, who was acting general manager in charge of regional coordination, takes over from Ms Rosemary Oduor, who was at the helm in an acting capacity for just nine months after Mr Ngugi’s exit.
“Eng Oduor is proceeding on a well-deserved annual leave,” the firm said in a statement.
Insiders told the Nation that Ms Oduor is likely to resume her position as general manager in charge of commercial services and sales, a position she held before being picked to temporarily head the firm.
Mr Muli holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering and is pursuing a PhD in business administration.
It is unclear why the company has made the change, a few months after it announced it was hiring a substantive MD, with Ms Oduor appearing in pole position for the job. But the appointment comes at a critical time for the company, which is expected to play a crucial role in lowering prices through government-led negotiations for lower tariffs in power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Kenya Power historically picked MDs from among insiders. Former MD Mr Ngugi , an employee for over 30 years, took over control in October 2019 from Mr Jared Othieno, who had been acting boss for over a year. Mr Ngugi was a supply chain manager for 10 years and chief accountant before that.
Meanwhile, Ken Tarus, whom Mr Ngugi replaced as substantive CEO, was general manager for finance. First appointed in January 2017 in an acting capacity to replace Ben Chumo, who had hit the retirement age of 60, Mr Tarus was confirmed as CEO in August of the same year.
But his reign lasted just under a year. He was suspended by the board in July 2018 and arrested by police alongside his former boss Mr Chumo in a Sh4.5 billion transformer procurement scandal.
Mr Chumo, appointed CEO in June 2013 following the exit of Joseph Njoroge, who was hired by the incoming Jubilee administration as principal secretary in the Ministry of Energy.
Having first joined the company in 1986 as a human resources officer, he rose through the ranks over the decades to become general manager.
