The PSC move follows a petition by Felix Willium Nandi raising several grievances, including the acting managing director, Kipkemoi Kibias’ serving in the role more than the required cap of six months and continuing to earn allowances and per diems.

The petition adds a fresh twist to the CEO recruitment at the State agency after it was forced to revise the requirements for the managing director’s role that had been advertised following threats of legal suits.

The firm was forced to drop the requirements in a repeat advert after accusations that the tougher conditions had been set to eliminate competition during recruitment.

Now, the PSC reckons that the Ketraco board has been slow to act on the petition seeking the removal of Mr Kibias from the acting CEO’s role.

“You are hereby required to respond to the complaint within 14 days from the date hereof. Please note that your response should also be copied to the complainant. Take notice that should you fail to respond as herein required, the commission will proceed to consider and determine the complaint without further reference to you,” says the letter signed by Mr Famba.

Section 77 of the Public Service Commission Regulations, 2020 empowers the PSC to investigate complaints on its own initiative or upon petition and decide after allowing all parties to be heard.

Dr Mativo had replaced Mr Fernandes Barasa, who resigned to joined politics and was subsequently elected as the Governor of Kakamega County in 2022. Over 10 months since the exit of Dr Mativo, Ketraco has yet to recruit a substantive boss.

Ketraco started the process of recruiting a substantive replacement for Dr Mativo by advertising for the position to allow applicants to express their interest.

However, it cancelled the advert and issued a new one after a lawsuit threat.

The PSC ultimatum comes at a time the Ketraco board is struggling with quorum after the Employment and Labour Relations Court mid last month barred three newly appointed members from performing their duties, pending the hearing and determination of a petition challenging their appointment.

The petitioners argued that the appointment of the three happened on the same day applications for the advertised positions of board members were due to be submitted to the Treasury, effectively rendering the recruitment exercise meaningless.

The petition that has been brought to the attention of the PSC argues that Ketraco is currently “operating without” a board as prescribed in law, and therefore, the commission should step in and remove the acting managing director.

“The PSC is therefore required to exercise its mandate of removing the acting CEO and appoint another acting CEO/MD with qualifications of a managing director as specified in the Government Owned Enterprise Act and more specifically a relevant degree,” states the petition.

The petition states that most general managers at Ketraco hold Bachelor’s degrees in education, arguing that the qualification is not relevant to a company operating in the energy sector.

The petition further argues that Eng Kibias’ continued stay in office breaches section 34(3) of the Public Service Commission Act, which caps acting appointments at six months. Mr Kibias has served as CEO in acting capacity since September 19, 2025.

Ketraco had started the process of recruiting a new managing director in early April this year, before a legal caution scuttled the process.

In a letter dated April 20, 2026, a Nairobi-based law firm accused Ketraco board members of illegally altering statutory requirements in the advertisement of the CEO position, forcing the firm to withdraw the first advert.

The law firm alleged that some of the requirements were outside what is provided for as statutory qualifications for State corporation bosses.

The Government-Owned Enterprises Act, 2025 requires applicants for CEO positions to have a degree, 10 years of work experience, and meet the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution, and sets no other requirements.

In May this year, Ketraco re-advertised for the managing director’s role, dropping some of the requirements in the earlier advert, including mandatory tax, debt and integrity clearance requirements.

However, the petition before the PSC claims that it was the acting CEO who cancelled the first advert to recruit a substantive boss, triggering lawsuits that have made him a beneficiary of the delayed process.

“The acting CEO cancelled the first advertisement for the recruitment of a CEO and readvertised without many changes in wording. This has resulted in multiple lawsuits. The acting CEO is a direct beneficiary of the prolonged recruitment process,” states the complainant.

The complaint further flags possible financial irregularities tied to the acting role, alleging that Mr Kibias has continued to earn acting allowance and per diems “beyond the prescribed period,” which it says “should be recovered.”

Ketraco, which plays a central role in the development of Kenya’s electricity transmission infrastructure, is facing leadership challenges at a time when it is pursuing the execution of large-scale projects that require top leadership decisions.

Mid this month, Ketraco disclosed that it had received proposals for five high-voltage electricity projects worth up to Sh65 billion to be developed through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.