A governance activist has moved to the Employment and Labour Relations Court seeking to bar the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) Board of Directors from extending the tenure of Managing Director Philip Mainga, whose contract is set to expire in February 2026.
The activist, Abdinur Wario who specialises in infrastructure governance and public sector accountability, argues that Mainga’s continued stay at the helm of the state corporation would undermine principles of integrity, transparency, and merit-based leadership.
In his petition, Walio notes that the embattled MD is 59 years old and is therefore approaching the mandatory retirement age, yet has allegedly refused to proceed on terminal leave as required by public service regulations.
“It beats logic for the Board to consider extending the contract of an officer who is almost due for retirement and whose tenure has been marred by serious integrity concerns,” the petition reads in part.
The activist further accuses Mr. Mainga of presiding over what he describes as widespread governance failures, including land grabbing, tender malpractices, and single-sourcing of multimillion-shilling contracts within the corporation.
According to Wario, several parcels of land owned by Kenya Railways in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa have allegedly been irregularly allocated or leased out under Mainga’s watch, in what he terms as “systematic plunder of public assets.”
He also claims that procurement processes within the corporation have been manipulated to favour specific contractors, raising red flags on the management of key projects such as the Nairobi Commuter Rail expansion and rehabilitation of branch lines.
Wario contends that the Kenya Railways Board should not reward what he describes as “a legacy of impunity” by granting Mainga a contract extension.
The embattled MD has reportedly been lobbying senior government officials and a section of the Board members to secretly extend his term, despite mounting criticism over his leadership style and management record.
The suit names both the Kenya Railways Board and the Attorney General as respondents and seeks interim orders barring any renewal or extension of the MD’s contract pending full hearing and determination of the case.
Efforts to reach Mr. Mainga for comment were unsuccessful by press time.
The case is set for mentioning on Tuesday next week.
