A petition challenging the continued stay in office of Kenya Railways Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Phillip Mainga has been withdrawn, a day after the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued interim orders barring him from exercising the powers and functions of the office. Lawyers representing petitioner Joan Machuma Nyongesa informed the Kenya Railways Corporation Board that they had withdrawn both the petition and the accompanying application.
In a letter addressed to the Chairperson and Board of Directors of Kenya Railways Corporation, Allamano & Associates said a formal Notice of Withdrawal had been filed. “Please note that we have since withdrawn the said Petition and the Accompanying application,” the lawyers stated. The withdrawal comes barely a day after Justice Nzioki wa Makau issued interim orders restraining Mainga from occupying the position, holding himself out as the Managing Director and CEO, or exercising the powers and functions attached to the office pending an inter-partes hearing. The court had directed the petitioner to serve the application on the respondents and scheduled the matter for hearing on August 18, 2026. The respondents had also been given three days to file and serve their responses.
Nyongesa had moved to court questioning the legality of Mainga’s continued tenure at the helm of the state corporation. According to the petition, Mainga’s first three-year term commenced on February 3, 2020 and expired on February 2, 2023. The petitioner argued that a second three-year term reportedly granted in January 2023 commenced on February 3, 2023 and consequently expired on February 2, 2026. She contended that Mainga’s continued exercise of the functions of Managing Director and CEO after February 2, 2026 was unlawful. Nyongesa had further argued that the Government Owned Enterprises Act, 2025 did not grant Mainga a fresh term or reset the statutory tenure applicable to the chief executive of the corporation. She warned that allowing an individual whose tenure was being challenged to continue exercising the powers of the office could have implications for major decisions involving procurement, contracts, borrowing, employment, public assets and national infrastructure projects.
With the petition and accompanying application now withdrawn, the legal challenge will no longer proceed in its current form. The development comes amid previous litigation involving Kenya Railways Corporation and its leadership that has also been instituted before the courts and subsequently withdrawn.
