By TWV Reporter
National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director General George Njao is set to leave office after serving two terms. The NTSA Board has already advertised a vacancy for the position as the search for his replacement begins.
Mr Njao, who was appointed on 12 November 2019 to replace Francis Meja, is expected to vacate office next week. In April, a lobby group launched a campaign to block any extension of his tenure beyond the legally permitted two terms.
The Road Safety Association of Kenya, in a letter to the State Corporations Advisory Board, claimed it had credible information that the NTSA Board had already resolved to extend Mr Njao’s term by another three years. “We acknowledge that the current NTSA Director General, Mr Njao, has already served his two full terms totalling six years. His first term, which expired in October 2022, was arbitrarily extended for another three years ending in October 2025. He has applied to have his contract extended for a further term of three years despite gross shortcomings and misconduct in the said position, in violation of the Constitution, the Public Officer Ethics Act No. 4 of 2003, and the Leadership and Integrity Act No. 19 of 2012,”
Wrote Chairman David Njoroge. The earlier extension of Mr Njao’s tenure had also attracted litigation in the Employment and Labour Relations Court, although the case was dismissed. The petitioner, Edwin Oduor, through his lawyer, stated that they had reached an out-of-court settlement, though he later denied consenting to the agreement.
In dismissing the challenge, Justice Byram Ongaya ruled that the application was an abuse of the court process, noting that the court had previously issued a ruling on a similar matter.
He added that the petitioner ought to have appealed the earlier decision instead of filing a new application. Mr Oduor had sought to block the extension of Njao’s term, arguing that his reappointment was not competitive and should therefore be halted by the court.
He further alleged that Mr Njao had failed to perform effectively during his tenure as Director General, accusing him of mismanagement and negligence that, he claimed, had contributed to thousands of avoidable deaths on Kenyan roads.
Mr Njao’s exit comes at a time when the NTSA is under heightened scrutiny following a KSh 45 billion smart driving licence project, which has been mired in controversy and allegations of corruption involving influential figures.
