Kungu Ndungu, the outgoing Director-General of Kenya National Highways Authority (left) and Philemon Kandie the outgoing Director-General of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority.
Friday’s twin resignations of top leaders in key roads agencies have exposed the intrigues in managing state parastatals—often entangled with national politics.
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Director-General Kungu Ndungu and his Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) counterpart Philemon Kandie resigned on Friday, July 11, both with more than a year left on their contracts.
Mr Ndungu, who was appointed to a five-year term in October 2021, was to serve until October 2026, while Mr Kandie, who was picked for the top job in April 2022, was to serve until April 2027.
Both were appointees of the Uhuru Kenyatta administration, with insiders now telling the Sunday Nation that this could have been their first —though not necessarily their worst — undoing.
Their biggest blot was that the two men, described as experienced professionals by those who know them well, were still viewed with suspicion by some influential individuals in the current administration, who considered them to harbour loyalty to some people linked to the previous administration. These ties were also alleged to include some figures in the political opposition and their activities.
These links, sources who spoke in confidence, had been documented since President William Ruto took office in September 2022 but, until last month, were not seen as grounds for their removal. But this week, the boards of the two institutions were presented with the reports and instructions to ensure the exits of the two.
Both resignations were communicated Friday evening by State House operatives, sending a clear message about where the power lay in the decision to accept the exits of the roads agencies’ bosses.
Mr Anthony Mwaura, the chairperson of KeRRA board, suggested that the problem also included delayed completion of key roads—a monumental problem for President Ruto’s administration, which has faced increased scrutiny over the promises he makes, and whether or not they are implemented.
“The President has been very specific that all roads should be complete by 2027. These are individuals that the Head of State said cannot keep up with the pace. He has personally been going around the country inspecting projects but every time he has been disappointed.
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"Billions have been paid but the projects have stalled. We are always looking for the contractors to take responsibility but our efforts are thwarted,” Mr Mwaura told the Sunday Nation on Saturday.
For Mr Kandie, his problems, it appears, started way before the demand by the board on completion of roads.
His appointment, made in April 2022 by the KeRRA board, was swiftly challenged in court. In May 2023, the Employment and Labour Relations Court quashed his appointment, citing a rigged, rushed, and irregular recruitment process.
Justice Byram Ongaya declared the hiring was predetermined and illegal, highlighting that the board violated the statutory requirement to advertise the post for a minimum of 21 days, instead offering only 13.
The ruling branded the process a façade of due process where the outcome was decided before the race even began.
“Candidates ought not to be interviewed in a particular afternoon, and as the last candidate leaves the interview hall, an announcement in the media is being read out, on who the successful candidate is. Where does this leave such other candidates? The recruitment process must be objective, fair to all the candidates and in particular to the public, and must be rooted in the Constitution,” Justice Ongaya ruled then.
But Mr Kandie got a reprieve when a Labour court allowed him back in office pending a full judicial review.
Mr Ndungu, who was appointed into office in October 2021 following a competitive recruitment process conducted by the authority’s board, has faced problems with MPs in the recent past over pending bills in the parastatal.
In October last year, he was summoned by the National Assembly’ s Public Investment Committee on Energy and Commercial affairs after MPs raised the red flag over the operations of the KeNHA following revelations that it is collapsing under the weight of Sh86 billion in pending bills owed to contractors. MPs said the pending bills had accrued Sh5 billion in interest.
The committee which was reviewing the audited accounts of Kenha for the financial years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 further established that the agency had Sh22 billion in contingent liabilities arising from court cases.
During the impeachment of the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, KeNHA was also accused of diverting a contractor working on the Kilifi-Malindi road to tarmac a private road leading to Vipingo Beach Resort, a hotel reportedly purchased by Mr Gachagua.
Sunday Nation made attempts to reach out to Mr Ndungu to understand the reasons for his resignation but he had not responded by the time of going to press.
