A Nairobi lawyer has moved to the High Court to challenge the appointment and continued occupancy of the office of Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Chief Executive Officer by Dr Richard Lesiyampe, arguing that the process breached constitutional and statutory requirements governing senior public appointments.
In a petition filed at the High Court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division, advocate Samwel Muiruri Mwangi contends that the appointment raises serious questions over compliance with the Constitution, the Public Service Commission Act and the regulations governing how senior public office holders are recruited.
Mwangi wants the court to suspend the implementation of Lesiyampe’s appointment and to stop him from continuing to exercise the powers and functions of KNH’s chief executive until the petition is determined.
At the heart of the case, Mwangi argues, is whether a public officer who has already reached the mandatory retirement age can lawfully be appointed or kept in office in one of the most senior executive roles within a State corporation without strictly following the law.
“At the core of this Petition lies the constitutional question of whether a public officer who has attained the mandatory retirement age prescribed under the prevailing public service framework may lawfully be appointed, retained or continue serving in one of the highest executive offices within a State corporation without strict compliance with the Constitution,” the petition states.
Court papers show that Lesiyampe was first brought in to act as KNH CEO on August 19, 2025, pending a substantive recruitment process to fill the position permanently. According to the petition, the KNH Board of Management then resolved on June 29, 2026, to hand him a one-year fixed-term contract running from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
Mwangi says he has been unable to trace any public advertisement inviting applications for the role, nor any Gazette Notice or other public legal instrument confirming that the appointment was properly made.
The petition further alleges that KNH and the other respondents have not publicly shown that they complied with the Constitution, the Public Service Commission Act, the State Corporations Act, the KNH Board Order or the Mwongozo Code of Governance for State Corporations in making the appointment.
Mwangi also claims that Lesiyampe had already reached the mandatory retirement age before he was handed the contested appointment, and says no exemption, extension or approval permitting him to continue serving beyond that age has been made public.
The petition cites Section 80 of the Public Service Commission Act and Regulation 70 of the Public Service Commission Regulations, 2020, both of which govern how post-retirement engagement of public officers is supposed to work.
Mwangi argues that, as a State corporation, KNH was obligated to follow proper succession planning and merit-based recruitment in filling the position, and that allowing Lesiyampe to remain in office risks undermining “the constitutional values of transparency, accountability, merit, equal opportunity and the rule of law.”
Beyond seeking to suspend the appointment, the petition asks the court to compel the KNH Board to produce a range of documents, including the advertisement for the CEO post, board resolutions relating to both Lesiyampe’s earlier acting role and his subsequent fixed-term appointment, any approvals granted by the Public Service Commission or another competent authority, any relevant Gazette Notice, and records demonstrating compliance with the statutory provisions cited in the case.
The matter has been set for mention on September 30.
Lesiyampe’s current tenure marks his second stint at the helm of KNH. He first served as the hospital’s chief executive from 2011, after being appointed at the time by then Health Minister Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, a move notable for breaking with the long-standing practice of placing clinicians in the hospital’s top job.
Lesiyampe is not a practising medical doctor; he holds a doctorate from Kenya Methodist University and an MBA from the University of Nairobi. He returned to KNH in August 2025 following a stint as acting chief executive of the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, succeeding Dr Evanson Kamuri, who had led KNH for six years.
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