Top row: National Land Commission Chairman Gershon Otachi, (left) Esther Murugi (NLC board member) outgoing Public Service Commission Chairman Anthony Muchiri, and Former KeNHA Director-General Kung'u Ndung'u. Bottom row: Former Kerra Director-General Philemon Kandie. Former Salaries and Remuneration Commission CEO Anne Gitau, Former KLB Managing Director Victor Lomaria and Former TSC CEO Nancy Macharia.
The filling of vacant positions, or soon-to-be-declared vacancies, in lucrative and influential State agencies and independent commissions is becoming the centre of focus at the top levels of government, with canvassing and lobbying for the positions already in top gear.
The vacancies will be filled with an eye on the General Election, and they present President William Ruto with an opportunity to balance the broad-based government as he seizes every chance to ensure that he continues to keep ODM leader Raila Odinga happy.
The stewardship of the Public Service Commission, the National Land Commission, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) are among those expected to be filled. The Kenya Railways Corporation and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) are also due for new leadership as the terms of the incumbent officeholders end in the coming months. While some roles have been advertised, others currently have top officials in an acting capacity before the recruitment begins.
Mr George Njao, the Director-General of the NTSA, is set to leave in November this year after serving his two terms of three years each. Mr Njao was first appointed in November 2019 to replace Mr Francis Meja.
NTSA director-general George Njao speaks at Mercure Hotel Nairobi, during the sector’s stakeholders’ meeting on May 12.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) chairmanship is another position up for grabs after Mr Anthony Muchiri was nominated by the President as Kenya’s envoy to Ankara, Turkey. Mr Muchiri was vetted for the job last week by the Defence Committee of the National Assembly. The committee, chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech, will recommend to the House, in a report, whether to approve or reject the nomination.
The Teachers Service Commission Acting CEO Eveleen Mitei.
Dr Nancy Macharia created a vacancy at the TSC after her tenure as CEO came to an end on June 30, leaving Ms Eveleen Mitei in acting capacity. The search for a new TSC boss, one of the most powerful positions, had started but a court has temporarily stopped the recruitment.
Former Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia.
KeNHA, which controls multibillion-shilling trunk road construction projects, has an acting Director-General, Mr Luka Kimeli, following the sacking of Mr Kung’u Ndung’u in July.
KeRRA will also be in the market for a new Director-General after Mr Philemon Kandie was eased out, with Mr Jackson Magondu appointed by the board as the acting boss. The sackings of Mr Ndung’u and Mr Kandie left Mr Silas Kinoti, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) DG, unscathed.
Ms Margaret Njoka is serving in an acting capacity as the SRC chief executive officer, following the conclusion of Dr Anne Gitau’s tenure at the commission on June 30. Dr Gitau had served as the Commission Secretary and CEO since 2015. According to the SRC website, “a competitive recruitment process is underway to appoint a permanent successor.”
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At the NLC, the six-year tenure of Chairman Gershom Otachi and his eight members comes to an end on November 14. An advertisement seeking qualified applicants for the selection panel that will pick nominees has since been published.
National Land Commission chairperson Gershom Otachi.
At the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), the tenure of Managing Director Philip Mainga is expected to come to an end in January 2026. By then, he would have served two three-year terms. Mr Mainga was first appointed in January 2020 and his term was later renewed in January 2023 by then Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen. KRC operates both the metre gauge railway (MGR) and the standard gauge railway (SGR) and boasts multibillion-shilling assets in prime land across the country.
Face turbulence
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has already seen the CEO job advertised twice. Dr Muhamud Gedi has been acting CEO since July 2025, after replacing Mr Nicholas Bodo, who was appointed in December 2024. “The board of KAA continues the process of recruiting for a substantive CEO,” reads the KAA website, as the recruitment process continues to face turbulence.
Meanwhile, at the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), a vacancy in the office of the Managing Director has been advertised. Last year, Mr Victor Lomaria retired from the key institute in the education sector, which was among those marked for privatisation by President Ruto’s administration before the move was challenged in court.
Former Kenya Literature Bureau chief executive Victor Lomaria.
But even as the race for the top jobs in State corporations gains momentum, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has flagged the prolonged acting periods of some CEOs in State corporations, with fingers pointed at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), the Inspectorate of State Corporations, and the National Biosafety Authority (NBA).
The flagged agencies have CEOs who have acted beyond the mandatory period provided for in law, with audit reports warning that extended acting periods are a violation of the law and human resource policy manuals. “This exceeds the statutory duration provided for in the Public Service Commission Act of 2017,” said the Auditor-General in her report on audited accounts of the national government for the 2022/2023 financial year.
This raises concerns about the legality of the allowances that the long-acting CEOs continue to draw. For instance, the audit shows that the Bandari Maritime Academy CEO was appointed in an acting capacity on May 5, 2022, on a two-year contract, even though he had attained the mandatory retirement age of 60. The officer was to exit the public service on July 1, 2022 but was promoted and appointed on local terms by the PSC. The law establishing the PSC states that an officer may be appointed in an acting capacity for at least 30 days but not exceeding six months. Section 5.6 of the PSC Human Resource Policy Manual further provides that acting appointments will be made for a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of six months.
Appoint substantive CEOs
The Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Mr Felix Koskei, and the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) have previously issued directives requiring boards of State corporations to appoint substantive CEOs within a stipulated period whenever a vacancy arises. However, these directives are not always followed, as acting leadership often continues beyond the guidelines. Mr Koskei did not respond to our inquiries sent to his known mobile number about why his directives continue to be flouted.
Prof Elijah Maritim Songok, 65, was appointed acting Kemri CEO in 2023 and continues to serve in the position as the board is yet to recruit a substantive officeholder. Recently, the Kemri board reportedly rejected pressure to confirm Prof Songok as the boss on the grounds that he was beyond the retirement age. Former Wajir Senator Abdullahi Ali Ibrahim, who chairs the Kemri board, did not respond to our enquiries on the matter.
Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) Ag. Director General Prof Elijah Songok during a press briefing at the Kemri Mtwapa offices on October 3, 2024.
Mr James Mungai Warui was appointed as the Acting Inspector-General of State Corporations in 2023, a position he continues to hold. Interestingly, the Inspector-General of State Corporations is an office established under the State Corporations Act and is responsible for oversight and advising the government on their effective management and performance.
In the meantime, Mr Nehemiah Ngetich was appointed as the Acting National Biosafety Authority CEO in July 2024, a position he continues to hold to date. At the Universities Fund, Mr Edwin Wanyonyi is the current acting CEO, having been appointed in April 2025 to replace Mr Geoffrey Monari. Mr Monari transitioned to become CEO of the Higher Education Loans Board in May. Another agency led by an acting CEO is the National Commission for Science and Technology, where Dr David Ngigi was appointed acting CEO on 1 May, succeeding Prof Walter Oyawa.
Prolonged acting
Acting positions arise from various circumstances, including sackings, resignations, retirements, term completion, criminal prosecutions, and the need to replace previous leaders who were themselves replaced by new administrations.
However, previous findings by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), as adopted by the National Assembly, have warned that “these prolonged acting capacities can create uncertainty and leadership gaps, potentially hindering critical decision-making and the stability of parastatals”.
“This uncertainty is having an adverse impact on service delivery in government agencies, as the acting bosses may be hesitant when required to make decisions that affect the organisations they head,” PAC says in one of its adopted reports. The PAC report adds that in such circumstances, acting CEOs “become pendulums of their respective boards as they are nervous about decisions that may make them unpopular with their boards and therefore risk their confirmation”.
