They Didn’t Resign But Forced Out: Intrigues of Unceremonious Ouster of KeNHA and KeRRA Bosses

A coordinated boardroom purge, not voluntary resignations, orchestrated the dramatic exit of two powerful roads agency chiefs on the same day

In what appears to be a carefully choreographed political maneuver, the simultaneous “resignations” of Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Director-General Kungu Ndungu and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) boss Philemon Kandie on Friday, July 11, 2025, have exposed the brutal realities of political survival in Kenya’s state parastatals.

“They didn’t resign; they were forced out,” a well-placed source revealed, laying bare the true nature of what was publicly presented as voluntary departures from two of the country’s most powerful infrastructure positions.

The Coordinated Strike

The twin announcements came within hours of each other on the same Friday evening, with both boards citing resignation letters from their respective directors-general. But beneath the corporate veneer of board statements and official communiques lay a different story—one of political loyalty tests, billion-shilling project disputes, and the unforgiving machinery of regime change.

Both officials were appointees of the previous Uhuru Kenyatta administration, surviving multiple purges since President William Ruto took office in September 2022. Their survival, sources indicate, had become increasingly precarious as influential figures in the current administration questioned their loyalty and effectiveness.

The timing was no coincidence. State House operatives communicated the resignations on Friday evening, sending an unmistakable message about where the real power lay in the decision to accept the exits of the roads agencies’ bosses.

The Loyalty Question

At the heart of their removal lay the toxic politics of transition. Both Ndungu and Kandie, despite being described as experienced professionals by those who know them, were viewed with suspicion by influential individuals in the current administration. Their alleged ties to figures in the previous government and political opposition had been documented since President Ruto took office, creating a cloud of mistrust that ultimately sealed their fate.

“These are individuals that the Head of State said cannot keep up with the pace,” KeRRA board chairman Anthony Mwaura told the Sunday Nation, attempting to frame the removals around performance issues. “The President has been very specific that all roads should be complete by 2027.”

But the performance narrative masks deeper political calculations. The fight for control of billions of shillings allocated for road projects had intensified, with questions raised about project delays, cost overruns, and the effectiveness of current leadership in delivering on the administration’s ambitious infrastructure promises.

Kandie’s Troubled Tenure

Philemon Kandie’s exit was perhaps the most anticipated. His appointment in April 2022 had been controversial from the start, with the Employment and Labour Relations Court in May 2023 declaring his recruitment process “rigged, rushed, and irregular.” Justice Byram Ongaya had ruled that the process was predetermined and illegal, describing it as “a façade of due process where the outcome was decided before the race even began.”

More damaging were recent allegations linking Kandie to the financing of violent protests that rocked the country in June 2025. A petition filed in the High Court by concerned citizen Wahome Mucunu accused him of using his position to funnel state resources through shell companies and contractors linked to KeRRA to support demonstrations allegedly coordinated by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

The petition claimed that Kandie violated multiple constitutional provisions including abuse of office, breach of public trust, and misuse of public resources to support demonstrations that resulted in widespread violence, property destruction, and loss of life.

Ndungu’s Infrastructure Headaches

Kungu Ndungu’s troubles were more conventionally administrative but no less damaging. Appointed in October 2021 following what was described as a competitive recruitment process, he had presided over KeNHA as it accumulated a staggering Sh86 billion in pending bills to contractors, with MPs revealing that these bills had accrued Sh5 billion in interest.

The National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee had also established that the agency faced Sh22 billion in contingent liabilities arising from court cases, painting a picture of an organization in financial distress.

More politically sensitive was KeNHA’s alleged involvement in the impeachment saga of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, where the authority was accused of diverting a contractor working on the Kilifi-Malindi road to tarmac a private road leading to Vipingo Beach Resort, a hotel reportedly purchased by Gachagua.

The Bigger Picture

The removals come at a time when Kenya’s road sector faces unprecedented challenges. The National Treasury recently abandoned plans for the construction of the Sh468 billion Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway after rejecting the feasibility study, while the government was forced to pay Sh6.2 billion to a French consortium for cancelling the Rironi-Mau Summit road project.

There has also been a spirited push to disband KURA and KeRRA, with arguments that their mandate ended at the onset of devolution, creating additional uncertainty in the sector.

The Aftermath

The Motorists Association has demanded a clear and transparent explanation regarding the resignations, describing them as “deeply concerning” and “sudden.” The association questioned whether this was “a case of voluntary exit, or a quiet purge disguised as resignations.”

With Jackson Magondu appointed as acting KeRRA boss and Luka Kimeli taking over at KeNHA in an acting capacity, the road sector now faces a period of uncertainty as new leadership grapples with inherited challenges and the political pressure to deliver on the administration’s infrastructure promises.

The unceremonious ouster of these two powerful officials serves as a stark reminder that in Kenya’s political landscape, technical competence and professional experience offer little protection against the brutal calculus of political loyalty and regime survival. The message to other parastatal heads is clear: alignment with the current political dispensation is not optional—it’s a matter of professional survival.

As the dust settles on this dramatic Friday evening purge, the real test will be whether the new leadership can navigate the complex web of political expectations, financial constraints, and delivery pressures that ultimately claimed their predecessors. The billions at stake in Kenya’s road sector ensure that this story is far from over.