Away from State corporations, another job up for grabs is that of Director General of the East Africa Development Bank (EADB) where an appointment has been pending for three years.
Reliable sources said the new leadership at the Treasury was keen to extend changes to the regional bank where Kenya is leading shareholder with Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi as other shareholders.
“The changes will be far-reaching across all the boards and will extend to EADB where Kenya has shares. The changes are on their way,” said a senior official who sought anonymity.
The current Director General Vivian Yeda was first appointed to the regional bank where Kenya is a major shareholder in 2009 and was eligible for a five-year renewable term.
Ms Yeda, who was recently edged out of the plum position of Kenya Power chairperson, has been serving at the regional bank for 13 years.
Yeda was appointed to the board as a director in July 2020 and later in December elected as the chair.
In November 18 letter, Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u directed Kenya Power’s board to include a special notice recommending her removal at the AGM.
“As a shareholder with 50.1 per cent in the Kenya Power and Lighting Company Plc, we require the board of directors of the company to table before the AGM an ordinary resolution for the removal of directors pursuant to Article 129 of the Company’s memorandum and articles of association,” said CS Treasury Njuguna Ndung’u.
“The Special Notice is to be included in the agenda for the company’s 101st AGM to be held by December 31 and shall recommend the removal of Ms Yeda as a director of the company.”
Treasury’s majority shareholding automatically means the motion is carried no matter what other shareholders want. With minority shareholding, other shareholders are powerless unless backed by the State.
The EADB’s boss’s appointment as KPLC chair could have been her Waterloo given that her exit came after several questions over her leadership including parliament petitions over her leadership at the power firm and the conflict of interest over a loan facility that her bank gave to Lake Turkana Wind Power.
In a petition to Parliament, Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap asked Parliament to probe the deal between Kenya Power and the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) plant, and if it was a reason for the high cost of power.
During her two and a half years at the helm of the utility company, the board ran into problems with various parties.
The result has been many dates with parliamentary committees where it has defended its actions. At one time, LTWP officials recorded statements with the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) over claims of procurement malpractices.
During the period, Kenya Power has also emerged from loss making, with credit perhaps partly due to the board. It made a net profit of Sh3.5 billion in the year to June 2022, up from Sh1.5 billion in 2021 and Sh939 million loss in 2020.
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