NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 12 – A legal challenge over the continued tenure of Kenya Railways Corporation Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Phillip Mainga has been withdrawn, barely a day after the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Kisumu issued interim orders stopping him from exercising the powers of the office.
The petition was withdrawn by lawyers representing Joan Nyongesa, who had questioned the legality of Mainga’s continued stay at the helm of the state corporation.
In a letter to the Chairperson and Board of Directors of Kenya Railways Corporation, Allamano & Associates said the petitioner had withdrawn both the petition and the accompanying application.
“Please note that we have since withdrawn the said Petition and the Accompanying application,” the lawyers said.
The advocates also indicated that a formal Notice of Withdrawal had been attached to the letter.
The withdrawal followed interim orders issued by Justice Nzioki wa Makau, restraining Mainga from occupying or holding himself out as the Managing Director and CEO of Kenya Railways Corporation.
The court also barred him from exercising the powers and functions attached to the position pending an inter partes hearing.
The respondents had been directed to file and serve their responses within three days, with the matter scheduled for hearing on August 18, 2026.
The withdrawal means the petition and its accompanying application will not proceed in their current form.
Nyongesa’s petition centred on the length and legality of Mainga’s tenure as Kenya Railways CEO.
She argued that Mainga’s initial three-year term began on February 3, 2020, and ended on February 2, 2023.
According to the petitioner, Mainga was subsequently granted another three-year term in January 2023, beginning on February 3, 2023.
That second term consequently expired on February 2, 2026, the petition argued.
The legal challenge questioned the basis on which Mainga continued exercising the powers of Kenya Railways CEO after the alleged expiry of the second term.
The petitioner also relied on provisions of the Government Owned Enterprises Act, 2025, arguing that the legislation did not provide for a fresh term or reset the statutory limit governing the tenure of a chief executive.
The case therefore raised questions about the legal basis for Mainga’s continued occupation of the powerful position at Kenya Railways.
The petitioner further argued that the issue was significant because the CEO exercises authority over decisions involving public resources and strategic national infrastructure.
The areas highlighted included procurement, public assets, contracts, borrowing, employment and infrastructure projects.
The withdrawal came before the court could conduct the scheduled inter partes hearing.
The court had initially directed that the application be served on the respondents and required them to respond ahead of the August 18 proceedings.
With the withdrawal, the legal challenge will no longer be heard in its current form.
It remains unclear from the withdrawal notice what prompted the petitioner to abandon the case at this stage.
The latest development also comes against the backdrop of previous legal disputes involving Kenya Railways Corporation and its leadership, some of which have similarly been filed and later withdrawn.
The corporation remains a strategically important state entity, overseeing key railway infrastructure and services that form part of Kenya’s national transport network.
The dispute over Mainga’s tenure had therefore attracted attention because of the potential implications for the management of the corporation and decisions involving major public infrastructure projects.
For now, the withdrawal brings the latest court challenge to an end in its present form, despite the fact that interim orders had been issued only a day earlier.
