The Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy summoned senior executives of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, over disputed recruitment procedures, the delayed transfer of a KSh 5.3 billion asset to KETRACO, and significant impairments on power infrastructure.
Appearing before the committee chaired by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, the management was responding to issues raised in the Auditor-General’s review of the company’s financial statements for FY2020/21 to FY2022/23.
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The audit observed that KenGen hired 10 staff, including four graduate engineers, in 2020/21 without publicly advertising the positions, contrary to its HR policy and Article 232(1) of the Constitution, which requires fairness, competition and equal opportunity in public appointments. A similar process was used the following year when 28 graduate engineers were sourced from an internal database rather than open advertisement.
KenGen Managing Director and CEO Eng. Peter Njenga defended the approach, saying the company needed to rapidly deploy engineers to geothermal drilling projects in Ethiopia and Djibouti to meet contractual deadlines.
“We were working under strict project timelines. Any failure to mobilise immediately would have attracted penalties and reputational risks. The HR database contains applications submitted through the company website, internship programmes and our career platform.”
Eng. Njenga told the lawmakers.
“That process is exclusionary and locks out qualified Kenyans who are not aware of the database,” said Ganze MP Kenneth Tungule. “It leaves room for favouritism.”
The committee also sought clarity on the delayed novation of a KSh5.3 billion contract asset relating to the Olkaria IV and Olkaria I AU substations, which KenGen constructed in 2015 but which have since been operated by the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO). The Auditor-General had noted the absence of a signed transfer agreement despite the assets being in use.
Eng. Njenga said the issue had been fully resolved after the National Treasury took over the associated loan and signed the novation agreement on June 30, 2024, allowing KenGen to derecognize the asset.
Lawmakers also examined the KSh5.9 billion impairment in KenGen’s financials, including a full KSh2.1 billion impairment of the Muhoroni Power Station. The plant’s Power Purchase Agreement expired in April 2023, and renewal discussions were not concluded by the reporting date.
Njenga said the impairment reflected prudent accounting due to uncertainty at the time and that clearance has since been issued for a one-and-a-half-year extension, after which the valuation will be reassessed.
