Energy Secretary Davies Chirchir has appointed Dr John Muoki Mativo as the MD of the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) effective April 24 on a three-year contract, renewable once.
The position has remained vacant since February 1 last year when the then MD, now Kakamega Governor, Fernandes Barasa resigned to pursue politics.
Dr Mativo takes over from Engineer Isaac Kiva who was seconded from the Energy ministry in January this year to head the State-owned power firm on acting basis, almost a year after Anthony Wamukota had served on similar basis from February last year.
Mr Kiva, whose mandate at Ketraco had been to oversee the recruitment of a substantive MD, reverts back to his role as the secretary of renewable energy at the ministry.
“Dr John Mativo is expected to bring on board sufficient skills in leadership and management of resources, having served the company in various capacities since 2010,” said the firm’s board chair Abdi Bare Duale in an internal memo to staff.
“He has a wealth of experience and institutional historical information which is much needed to support the required leadership in designing suitable plans and strategies that will contribute to high and sustainable socio-economic development of the country’s economy.”
The new boss holds a Doctorate degree in Civil Engineering from Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan, a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering from Tongji University in China and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nairobi.
He has over 25 years working experience in research, planning, design and construction supervision both in the public and private sectors.
He takes over Ketraco’s leadership at the height of reforms in the energy sector geared towards reducing the cost of power.
He is expected to oversee the formulation and implementation of the company’s fourth strategic plan 2023-28, operationalisation of the System Operator Mandate under the Energy
Act 2019, and implementation of the company’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP) transmission projects.
