Former Nandi governor Dr Cleophas Lagat will take over as chairman of the Rivatex East Africa textile company in Eldoret following his appointment by President William Ruto.
Lagat has welcomed the appointment and plans are underway to have him inaugurated as chairman of the board of directors at the firm.
“I thank the President for the appointment and promise to serve with dedication at Rivatex which is a major pillar as we strive to expand our manufacturing sector and create more jobs," Dr Lagat said.
Ruto revoked the appointment of Linus Gitahi as the chairperson of the Rivatex Board of Directors. Gitahi was appointed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in August 2022, and served for less than a year. Lagat will serve for a three-year term.
Lagat's takeover comes amid increasing losses at Rivatex which was revived and expanded by the government at a cost of more than Sh7 billion.
The firm has in recent days dismissed most of its contract workers and now has about 1,200 employees on permanent terms.
In the most recent audit report, the management of Rivatex was cited to have failed to account for more than Sh1 billion given by the government for the expansion of the firm.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said the money was not accounted for in the financial year ending June 30, 2022.
Rivatex has also made accumulated losses of more than Sh1.8 billion over the same period of time according to Gathungu’s report.
The company management attributed the poor performance to the constant breakdowns in processing machines that hindered the company's ability to supply goods of the right quality on time.
Gathungu said the company’s statement of comparative budget and actual amounts reflected the final receipts budget and actual on a comparable basis of Sh355.5 million and Sh353. 4 million respectively.
The Auditor general said the company incurred an expenditure of Sh730 million against an approved expenditure of Sh716.6 million resulting in an over-expenditure of Sh13.5 million.
Gathungu noted that during the financial year under review, the company received grants of Sh1.08 billion, “however the management did not provide audited documents and explanation on how the money was used,” the Auditor general said in her report.
