NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 21 – The High Court has struck out a petition challenging alleged ethnic imbalance and board appointments at Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited, citing fundamental legal defects.
In a ruling delivered on March 18, the court dismissed the case in its entirety after finding the petition was invalid due to the legal incapacity of the advocate who filed it.
The suit, filed by Benjamin Okumu, accused KETRACO’s board and senior management of unconstitutional ethnic bias in staffing, citing violations of national values and public service principles.
However, the court found that the pleadings had been prepared and filed by Kelvin Mwangala Lusweti, who was serving as a public officer at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority at the time, contrary to Section 10 of the Advocates Act.
“The pleadings drawn, signed and filed… are legally incompetent and are unsustainable in law,” the ruling stated, adding that the defect was “fatally incurable.”
The petition, filed in January 2026, had alleged “deliberate and systematic ethnicization” of KETRACO’s leadership and questioned the legality of certain board appointments and re-appointments, citing provisions of the Constitution including Article 232 on representation.
The case was struck out before the court could consider the substantive claims, after respondents successfully argued that its preparation violated the law.
The court ordered that Lusweti & Company Advocates bear the legal costs and granted the petitioner liberty to file a fresh case that complies with legal requirements.
The ruling leaves unresolved concerns over diversity and representation at KETRACO, a key player in Kenya’s electricity transmission network.
