Kenya Power has lost its fourth CEO in four years amid a boardroom fallout that came months after the court dismissed a petition to remove him over past procurement dealings.
The electricity distributor Wednesday announced the exit of Bernard Ngugi, cutting short his three-year term that was to end in October 2022 and replaced him with insider Rosemary Oduor in an acting capacity.
Sources familiar with Kenya Power’s affairs told the Business Daily that Mr Ngugi departed over differences with the Vivienne Yeda-led board that was chosen in November last year.
The source said the new board took an active role in management, including querying procurement decisions and dropping management’s strategy to increase tariff rates that officials believed would lift Kenya Power out of the red.
“The board came with the mentality that Kenya Power is rotten and they have to clean the company. Their main focus has been on tenders where the board has been micromanaging,” said the source.
“There has been bad blood between the board and the management and little is moving. Two months ago, the board sat to remove Mr Ngugi but there was a split.”
