Joe Sang, the man who had been forced out of the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) has been reappointed as the Managing Director, taking back his position after he was cleared of alleged corruption charges in December by the court.
The return of Sang has seen Dr. Macharia Irungu who was the MD after Sang had left sent home. The board of KPC declined to renew his contract, ending his three-year tenure at the State corporation. Mr. Sang first returned to KPC as the acting MD in January after a Nairobi court cleared him of corruption charges over the construction of the Sh1.9 billion Kisumu Oil jetty.
The High Court then temporarily suspended the reappointment following a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya. But the man is now back “like he never left”.
“On behalf of the board of directors of Kenya Pipeline Company, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Joe Sang as the managing director after the emerging top in the just concluded recruitment process,” said KPC board chair Faith Boinett. “Mr. Sang’s contract will be for a fresh term of four years, renewable subject to performance.”
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Mr. Sang and other senior managers of KPC were arrested on December 7, 2018, and charged with implementing the Kisumu oil jetty project, which cost taxpayers an alleged loss of Sh1.9 billion. The court ruled that no funds were lost and that the project was well-planned.
When President William Ruto took over office, a number of massive corruption cases touching on high-ranking officers were dropped either by the Office of the Director of Prosecution (ODPP) or cleared by the courts, raising an alarm among Kenyans.
Another high-ranking individual whose corruption case was dropped was the former CEO of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF)Geoffrey Mwangi.
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