Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga has been temporarily barred from exercising the powers of his office after the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued interim orders questioning the legality of his continued tenure at the corporation.
Justice Nzioki wa Makau granted the orders after hearing a petition filed by Joan Machuma Nyongesa, who is challenging whether Mainga still holds a lawful mandate to run the State corporation.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this Application Inter partes, a conservatory order be issued restraining Mainga, whether by himself, his agents, servants, appointees or any person acting under his direction, from occupying, holding himself out as, representing himself as, or exercising any of the powers, duties and functions of the office of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Railways Corporation,” the judge ordered.
The court also suspended any arrangement that might have extended Mainga’s stay in office beyond his last legally recognised term.
“The operation and implementation of any decision, instrument, resolution, extension, renewal, reappointment or administrative arrangement purporting to authorise Mainga’s continued occupation or exercise of the office after the apparent expiry of the last lawful term be suspended pending the hearing of the application,” the judge directed.
The suit names Kenya Railways Corporation, its Board of Directors, Mainga himself, the Public Service Commission, the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, and the Attorney General as respondents.
They have been given three days from the date of service to file their responses, with the matter set to be heard inter partes on August 18, 2026. The order carries a penal notice, meaning any failure to comply with the court’s directives could attract penal consequences.
At the centre of Nyongesa’s case is the timeline of Mainga’s appointment. She states that his first substantive three-year term began on February 3, 2020, and lapsed on February 2, 2023.
She further claims that a media report published in January 2023 indicated that the Kenya Railways Board had renewed his appointment for a further three years, a renewal whose legality she is now asking the court to scrutinise, alongside his continued exercise of the CEO’s powers since then.
Nyongesa contends that the dispute carries weight beyond Mainga’s individual position, arguing that it touches on constitutional and public governance concerns given Kenya Railways’ role in major infrastructure projects and its management of significant public resources, contracts and institutional decisions.
She warns that decisions made by someone whose mandate is under legal challenge could leave both the corporation and the public exposed to uncertainty over their validity.
She has also sought to reassure the court that barring Mainga from office would not cripple the corporation’s operations, suggesting the Board could appoint a qualified acting CEO in the interim and, if required, launch a fresh recruitment process. This is not the first legal challenge to Mainga’s tenure; a similar petition was filed in June 2026.
Ultimately, Nyongesa wants the court to determine whether Mainga has any lawful basis to remain in office and, should it find that his tenure is no longer valid, to give directions on how a lawful succession and recruitment process should proceed.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
