Kenya Power chief quits race for ERC top job in last lap
Laurencia Njagi, a senior Kenya Power executive, has quit the race for the top job at the Energy Regulatory Commission. FILE
What you need to know:
Laurencia Njagi drops bid to leave two candidates for director-general’s position.
She is vacating her job as Kenya Power’s company secretary to join the World Bank.
Ms Njagi’s exit has effectively denied Mr Chirchir an opportunity to name a female CEO among the energy sector State-owned firms that are male-dominated businesses.
A senior Kenya Power executive has quit the race for the top job at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), leaving the minister with the choice of two candidates.
Laurencia Njagi, who was shortlisted by the ERC board for the director-general’s position, is vacating her job as Kenya Power’s company secretary to join the World Bank.
Ms Njagi, 47, together with Joseph Njaga and Joel Imitiria were recommended to Energy secretary Davis Chirchir as the top contenders in the race to replace Kaburu Mwirichia who has served two three-year terms.
Ms Njagi’s exit has effectively denied Mr Chirchir an opportunity to name a female CEO among the energy sector State-owned firms that are male-dominated businesses.
“Laurencia is still working with us but she is leaving for the World Bank,” said Florence Obura, the Kenya Power spokesperson on Friday.
Her exit does not remove the headache of picking the ERC boss from outside the home turf of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy—whose regions have benefited the most from key appointments in State-owned firms in the energy sector.
KenGen, Kenya Power, Rural Electrification Authority (REA) and Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) have appointed interim CEOs following the exit of their top brass with individuals from the Rift Valley and Central regions.
The Rift Valley has benefited with the appointments of Ben Chumo and Charles Tanui as interim bosses of Kenya Power and KPC respectively following the exit of Joseph Njoroge and Selest Kilinda.
The two populous regions voted overwhelmingly for President Kenyatta’s Jubilee Coalition in the March 4 elections. Mr Kenyatta appointed the Cabinet secretary and the principal secretary of the Energy and Petroleum ministry from Rift Valley and Central.
Mr Chirchir is the Cabinet Secretary while Mr Njoroge, who served as Kenya Power CEO since 2007, was appointed Energy principal secretary.
The search for substantive CEOs of the parastatals is set to give Mr Chirchir an opportunity to appoint preferred managers to run the cash-rich firms as the balance of power shifts in Kenya’s energy industry.
The process of getting permanent replacements will be keenly watched, especially the regions where the executives will come from. At ERC, Mr Mwirichia’s successor will, among other things, be tasked with the responsibility of balancing interests of consumers with those of power producers, distributors and oil marketers.
The outgoing ERC boss will be remembered for the introduction of fuel price controls in December 2010 in response to a widespread public perception that oil firms were reaping excess profits at the expense of consumers.
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