The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (KETRACO) has suspended its CEO Eng. John Mativo, according to credible reports, following allegations of procurement irregularities linked to the damage of a 70-tonne transformer valued at approximately Sh400 million.
Sources familiar with Thursday’s board meeting confirmed that the suspension follows a probe into how the bulky high-voltage transformer—destined for the 220 kV Turkwel–Ortum–Kitale transmission project—was ferried from Mombasa without a valid contract or insurance cover and subsequently destroyed when it reportedly fell off the transporter’s truck.
A senior official at the Ministry of Energy, while confirming disciplinary action against the officers involved, stressed that state corporations must strictly follow procurement rules. He did not, however, name the affected officers. Sources indicate that a senior procurement official had been already sent home – and that yesterday’s was the turn of the CEO as the accounting officer.
“Management is expected to tick all the boxes before awarding. The ministry doesn’t micro-manage agencies at all. They procure end to end—from floating the tender, evaluating, awarding—and all that should be followed to the letter. Even in this case that is what was expected, hence the disciplinary action undertaken.”
KETRACO had procured two high-voltage (HV) transformers for the project. The 220/132 kV, 90 MVA unit—the one destroyed—was earmarked for installation at the Kitale sub-station to improve power quality and reliability in several counties across Western Kenya.
The second unit, weighing about 40 tonnes, was successfully installed at the 220/33 kV Ortum sub-station.
When contacted by COFEK on his WhatsApp, Eng. Mativo at first returned a call from a different number, remarking only that he “didn’t understand the questions… what do you want me to answer?” he quipped before ending the conversation and failing to pick up subsequent calls.
In the brief conversation, Eng Mativo maintained that the disputed procurement “had not reached a contract stage,” declining to concede that an unwritten contract existed.
The suspension underscores renewed scrutiny of procurement practices in Kenya’s energy sector, where high-value infrastructure projects carry both strategic importance and significant financial exposure. Investigations into the incident and the fate of the Sh400 million transformer are ongoing.
Other sources that a high amount of money, estimated at Sh20m to Sh50m, could change hands in order that the CEO is saved from the impending axe.
We could not reach the KETRACO board chairman Captain Mohamed Abdi, the co-owner of Skyward Express. His partner is Issack Somow.
Updates to follow …