Environment and Climate Change Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno is locked in a controversy with the Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA) board chaired by former Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa (pictured) over the suspension of the agency’s top leadership.

The fallout between Ng’eno and the board over the suspension of the agency’s Director General Julius Tanui and Finance and Accounts manager Samson Saitoti has also roped in Head of the Public Service and Chief of Staff Felix Koskei after the PS wrote to him seeking intervention.

Sources within the Ministry have accused Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya of taking too long to end the stalemate caused by positions taken by the PS and the KWTA board.

A source at the Ministry revealed yesterday that Ng’eno had reached out to Koskei to help end the impasse that started after the Board suspended Tanui and Saitoti.

Special full board

Soon after the suspension, Ng’eno, in a letter dated September 13, 2023, directed Echesa to reverse the decision pending further consultations between the board and his office.

“The resolution of the Board is hereby suspended until otherwise advised,” Ng’eno wrote in a letter also copied to Koskei referring to the Board’s resolutions, and called for a special full board meeting to deliberate on the matter.

Ng’eno termed the decision to suspend Tanui and his Finance counterpart, as a weighty matter that required more consultations.

But the board, under the chairmanship of Echesa, has reportedly stuck to its decision and insisted that Tanui and Saitoti must serve the suspension.