A new acting CEO took over at the troubled Kerio Valley Development Authority in Eldoret on Thursday hours after embattled MD David Kimosop was fired by the board.
Francis Kipkech has been Deputy CEO at KVDA for more than 15 years. He will head the agency in an interim position as the government starts the process of hiring a new boss.
“We will get a new CEO through the due process and as required by the law governing KVDA operations,” board chairman Jackson Kiptanui said.
Sources said the board may also fire five other top officials over graft allegations. The KVDA board met in Eldoret and after the meeting it issued a press statement indicating it had terminated the services of Kimosop.
“The board has appointed Kipkech to act as managing director in the interim period until a substantive MD is appointed,” the statement said.
Kimosop declined to comment on the removal but sources said he was at the meeting where the decision to sack him was made by the board members.
This comes amid the ongoing probe into the possible loss of Sh21 billion for the Arror and Kimwarer dam projects in Elgeyo Marakwet.
Reports from the DCI office indicate investigations into the scam had been completed and more than 10 people were likely to face charges in the next few weeks. They include some Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and top officials at KVDA.
Kimosop is among more than 30 officials who have been grilled by the DCI over the possible loss of money that was paid out for work on the two dams. The dams that were to cost more than Sh65 billion have since stalled.
Italian firm CMC Di Ravena, which is to put up the two dams, is also shrouded in graft allegations amid claims it paid kickbacks to be awarded contracts.
The firm had set up a command office at KVDA Plaza in Eldoret, but has not been able to move to the sites of the projects after the government failed to compensate more than 1,000 families who are to be displaced to create room for the projects.
The removal of Kimosop sparked off anxiety at KVDA, where staff welcomed the changes, arguing that the graft allegations had almost brought the regional authority to its knees.
Kimosop is yet to pick his dismissal letter from KVDA, where he has served as CEO for more than eight years. He formerly worked as a banker and hails from Elgeyo Marakwet.
