By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter
Kenya, August 12, 2026 - Kenya Railways Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Phillip Mainga has received a reprieve after a petition challenging his continued stay in office was withdrawn, just a day after the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Kisumu temporarily barred him from exercising the powers of the position.
Lawyers representing petitioner Joan Machuma Nyongesa notified the Kenya Railways Corporation board that they had withdrawn both the petition and the accompanying application.
The withdrawal came a day after Justice Nzioki wa Makau issued interim orders restraining Mainga from occupying, representing himself as, or exercising the powers and functions of Kenya Railways' Managing Director and CEO pending an inter partes hearing.
The court had scheduled the matter for hearing on August 18, 2026, and directed that the respondents file and serve their responses within three days.
With the petition now withdrawn, that case will no longer proceed in its current form. However, the withdrawal does not amount to a judicial determination that Mainga's tenure was lawful or unlawful.
Nyongesa had challenged the legality of Mainga's continued occupation of the Kenya Railways top office, arguing that his second three-year term had already expired.
According to the petition, Mainga's first three-year term began on February 3, 2020, and ended on February 2, 2023.
A second three-year term reportedly began on February 3, 2023, meaning that term expired on February 2, 2026.
The petitioner questioned whether Mainga could continue exercising the functions of CEO after that date, particularly in light of the Government Owned Enterprises Act, 2025, which she argued did not provide for a fresh term or reset the statutory limit applicable to the position.
The petition also raised concerns over the potential consequences of an unresolved leadership mandate for decisions involving procurement, public assets, contracts, borrowing, employment and national infrastructure projects.
The court's interim orders temporarily restricted Mainga from exercising those powers while the legal challenge was pending.
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The petition was filed on August 10, the court issued interim orders the following day, and the petitioner's lawyers subsequently notified the Kenya Railways board that the matter had been withdrawn.
In their communication, Allamano & Associates Advocates stated that they had withdrawn the petition and the accompanying application.
The development effectively brings an abrupt end to the immediate legal challenge, although it leaves the broader question surrounding the CEO's tenure without a determination from the court in this case.
For Kenya Railways, the withdrawal removes the immediate litigation that had threatened to restrict the corporation's chief executive from exercising his mandate.
For Mainga, it provides a reprieve after the court order had, at least temporarily, placed his authority at the corporation in question.
The episode nevertheless puts renewed attention on leadership tenure and governance at state corporations, particularly where the occupants of senior positions continue in office after the expiry of terms that are subject to statutory limits.
For now, Mainga remains at the centre of Kenya Railways' management, while the petition that challenged his continued tenure has been withdrawn.
The court will therefore not proceed to determine the merits of the tenure challenge in the withdrawn case.