City lawyer Joy Masinde has been appointed to chair the board of Kenya Power following a push by the Treasury to have a new head at the State-owned electricity distributor.
Ms Masinde was elected as a director on Friday and then voted to head the board, replacing Viviane Yeda who had been at the helm since July 2020.
She was part of the appeals tribunal of President William Ruto’s coalition ahead of the August polls and is one of the six new directors on the board of Kenya Power.
Treasury Cabinet secretary had last month directed the company’s board to the table before the annual general meeting an ordinary resolution for the removal of Ms Yeda.
The push to oust Ms Yeda came amid concerns by the workers’ union of Kenya Power that had described her as an “impediment” to the transformation and stability of the company that is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Ms Yeda was appointed chairperson of the board in November 2020, replacing Mahmoud Maalim as the previous administration sought to restore the fortunes of Kenya Power.
The Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers Union had demanded the removal of Ms Yeda from the board arguing that she had been behind the company’s shortage of critical materials such as poles, meters and transformers through delayed approval of the firm’s procurement plan.
Ms Masinde leads, Duncan Ojwang, Albert Mugo, Logan Christi and Veska Kangogo as the other new directors along with Treasury Cabinet secretary and Energy and Petroleum PS.
The new directors were elected on Friday during the firm’s annual general meeting, joining the Treasury Cabinet secretary and Energy and Petroleum PS who automatically become directors due to their government positions.
Kenya Power doubled its net profit for the year ended June to Sh3.5 billion but did not declare dividends—the fifth year it has frozen shareholder payouts.
