President William Ruto has made leadership changes in three state agencies. In a gazette notice dated May 16, 2025, the President appointed former Kericho County Deputy Governor Lily Ng’ok as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Authority.
Ng’ok will serve a three-year term effective immediately. In turn, President Ruto effectively revoked the appointment of former Ainamoi Member of Parliament Sylvanus Maritim.
“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 6 (2) (a) of the Information and Communications Technology Order, 2013, as read together with section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya, appoints— LILY NG’OK to be the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of the Information and Communications Technology Authority, for a period of three (3) years, with effect from the 16th May, 2025. The appointment* of Sylvanus Maritim is revoked,” the notice reads in part.
The ICT Authority’s broad mandate entails enforcing ICT standards in Government, establishing, developing and maintaining secure ICT infrastructure systems, supervision of electronic communications, as well as promoting digital literacy, capacity, innovation and enterprise.
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Ruto appoints new board chairpersons
Following the revocation of Maritim’s appointment to the Authority’s board, the Head of State appointed him as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE).
KIE was established in 1967 with a mandate to promote Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with a focus on rural industrialization.
Maritim will serve as its board’s chairperson for a three-year term effective May 16, 2025. In turn, the appointment of Lily Ng’ok to the KIE board has been revoked.
Further, President Ruto has appointed Professor Lawrence Gumbe to be the Non-Executive Chairperson of Board of Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA).
Prof. Gumbe is the former chairman of Centre for Multiparty Democracy-Kenya. He will serve for a period of four years, with effective immediately.
“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 58 (a) of the Energy Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint—LAWRENCE O. GUMBE (PROF. ENG) to be the Non-Executive Chairperson of Board of Nuclear Power and Energy Agency,” the gazette notice adds.
NuPEA is a State Corporation under the State Department for Energy in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum that was established under the Energy Act 2019.
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Nuclear Power and Energy Agency
The agency is charged with the responsibility of promoting and implementing Kenya’s nuclear power programme, carrying out research and development, and capacity building in the energy sector.
Prof. Gumbe holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Nairobi in 1980, a masters degree from Cranfield University in 1982, and a Ph.D degree from Ohio State University, USA.
He became a graduate member of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers in 1981 and is a registered professional consulting engineer with the Engineers Board of Kenya.
The new NuPEA board chairperson has acted as a professor in the Department of Biosystems and Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Kenya and adjunct professor at Kenyatta University.
Between 1998 and 2006, Gumbe served as Chairman of Department at UoN and has taught many courses in engineering at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
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