Stanley Kamanguya has resigned from his position as CEO of Kenya’s ICT Authority, less than two days after a court reinstated him to the role.
The trouble started brewing earlier this year when Kamanguya’s initial term as CEO was set to expire on August 7. Like any executive would, he applied for renewal back in February, and that’s where things started to get messy.
His application only reached the then-chairperson Sylvanus Maritim on March 4, apparently well past some six-month deadline that public service guidelines demand.
What happened next depends on who you ask. Kamanguya says ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo formally reappointed him on March 10 for a fresh three-year term starting August 8. The Board, however, tells a different story entirely.
According to the Board, the March 6 meeting that endorsed Kamanguya’s renewal was a procedural nightmare. They claim Kamanguya essentially wrote his own performance review and board paper for renewal instead of having a proper committee handle it.
The Board also alleges the meeting was unlawfully reconvened without proper notice after being adjourned, and that the resolutions were hastily signed by a sessional chairperson.
In their view, the entire process violated the Mwongozo Code, which sets corporate governance standards for public institutions.
Fed up with what they saw as procedural chaos, the Board dropped the hammer on July 1, revoking Kamanguya’s reappointment and declaring the CEO position vacant. They installed Zilpher Owiti as acting CEO and effectively sent Kamanguya packing on terminal leave.
Kamanguya, however, was not going to go down without a fight. He had already filed a petition in the High Court challenging attempts to remove him from office. The Board made their July 1 decision despite a court order from June 30 that specifically barred any action on the matter.
Justice Mathews Nduma of the Employment and Labour Relations Court wasn’t too pleased. On Thursday of last week, he issued a conservatory order that essentially told everyone to freeze.
Stanley Kamanguya was reinstated, Owiti was told to step down as acting CEO, and the ICT Authority was barred from advertising the position or recruiting a replacement.
By Friday, Kamanguya was back at his desk. He struck a diplomatic tone upon his return, calling for everyone to respect the law and work together for Kenya’s digital transformation agenda. But, something changed.
Despite winning his legal battle and getting official backing from the CS, Kamanguya decided the fight wasn’t worth it. Now he’s gone. The man who battled through courts, faced down a rebellious board, and won the right to retain his position has chosen to walk away.
His resignation ends one of the messiest leadership disputes in Kenya’s public sector, where a CEO had to sue his own board to do his job, won, then quit anyway. The ICT Authority now gets to start over, hopefully with less courtroom drama this time.
