The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) found no irregularities in offering Peter Mbugua a new three-term as CEO of the State agency charged with connecting rural Kenya to the national electricity grid.
The REREC board had been accused, through an anonymous complaint, of favouring Mr Mbugua in his appraisal and failure to open the position to other candidates.
This now clears the way for REREC to complete the hiring of the 230 workers and endorses the re-appointment of Mr Mbugua.
The anti-graft agency has backed the re-appointment of the chief executive of the Rural Electrification and Energy Corporation (REREC) in the wake of complaints that the contract extension was irregular.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) found no irregularities in offering Peter Mbugua a new three-term as CEO of the State agency charged with connecting rural Kenya to the national electricity grid.
The advisory followed a request from REREC chairman Simon Gicharu that the EACC probe the steps that led to the extension of the CEO’s contract that lapsed on December 19, 2020.
The REREC board had been accused, through an anonymous complaint, of favouring Mr Mbugua in his appraisal and failure to open the position to other candidates.
“The commission commenced investigations into allegations of irregular recruitment of 230 new staff and irregular re-appointment of the chief executive officer between 1st December 2020 and June 2021,” said EACC chief executive officer Twalib Mbarak in a letter copied to Mr Gicharu seen by the Business Daily.
“That so far there is no impropriety on the re-appointment of the chief executive officer.”
This now clears the way for REREC to complete the hiring of the 230 workers and endorses the re-appointment of Mr Mbugua.
REREC, hived off from Kenya Power, has hardly had an orderly transition of the CEO position. Its first CEO Zachary Ayieko quit office in 2013 after a fallout on the board, ending his five-year stint.
His successor, Ng’ang’a Munyu, was ousted in 2017 to pave the way for an audit into how billions of shillings were spent in a primary schools electrification scheme, prompting his arrest last year.
Mr Mbugua replaced Mr Munyu in March 2017.
REREC returned a surplus of Sh7.2 billion in the year to June, according to the Treasury estimates, and has recently accelerated rural electrification projects, inching Kenya closer to the ambitious goal of universal electricity access.
This helped earn Mr Mbugua a performance review score of 81 percent.
On the 230 employers, REREC had been accused of nepotism and increasing its staff count without a budget and in breach of the law.
The workers are yet to be issued with appointment letters in the wake of the complaint.
“The commission advises that you may proceed with the recruitment process. However, ensure that the persons appointed to all positions meet the minimum requirements as per the advertisements,” Mr Mbarak said.
The hiring of the hundreds of workers was prompted by changes to the Energy Act that widened the mandate of REREC to include dealings with county governments to deepen electricity connections, fundraising, research and development of a master plan for Kenya’s renewable energy.
The State agency is partnering with county governments and constituencies under the National Government Constituencies Development Fund to boost rural electrification.
Under the deal, county governments and constituency development funds will contribute half of the cost of bringing power grids to rural areas with REREC contributing the balance.
The move is meant to deepen electricity supply to rural homes and shopping centres, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. The State plans to connect 2.4 million households to subsidised power in the year ending June in the race for universal electricity access.
REREC’s mandate is to accelerate rural electrification projects across Kenya while Kenya Power #ticker:KPLC — a majority State-owned company that is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange #ticker:NSE —manages distribution and billing of consumers.
Its earlier strategic plan mainly focused on the connection of power to public facilities, with the Jubilee government emphasising on hooking all primary schools to the national grid to enable it launch the digital learning programme.
Now, REREC will instal transformers and low-voltage lines to reach homes in remote villages. The homes will pay Kenya Power Sh15,000 for metering and link to the grid.
