High Court reinstates Oimeke as Epra boss
The High Court has reinstated Pavel Oimeke as Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) Director General, ending months of leadership uncertainty at the energy sector regulator.
Oimeke, who has served as Epra’s chief executive since 2017, was re-appointed for another three year term on July 27, a few days to the expiry of his first term on August 1.
The re-appointment was, however, shelved and Oimeke suspended by the board after a petitioner, Emannuel Wanjala, moved to court to block his re-appointment.
In her ruling yesterday, Justice Hellen Wasilwa dismissed Wanjala’s petition for lack of merit and ordered the immediate reinstatement of Oimeke as the Epra Director General vacating previous conservatory orders against him.
“In the circumstances, I found that the application did not have merit and therefore I dismissed it and ordered that the status quo of the first respondent be reinstated immediately as the DG,” Justice Wasilwa said.
Immediately
“I had stayed that position because I thought that he had not been appointed, but he has been appointed and rightly so.
And therefore he is reinstated as the DG effective immediately,” she added.
The court absolved Oimeke of all allegations levelled against him by the petitioner.
Justice Wasilwa ruled that Oimeke was qualified to hold office as the DG and was properly appointed in 2017 and re-appointed in accordance with the law this year.
She noted that the petition was filed after he had already been re-appointed to the position by the Cabinet Secretary for Energy.
Allegations
The petitioner, according to the ruling, failed to prove allegations of collusion with illegal LPG dealers, nepotism, tribalism and favouritism, against Oimeke.
Worse still, the evidence relied upon by the petitioner was obtained illegally, hence, could not be relied upon in court.
During the case, Oimeke also benefitted from the fact that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) confirmed it had not received any complaints against him over corruption or breaching the ethical requirements of the constitution.
In August, Epra board appointed Mueni Mutung’a, the Corporation Secretary and director of legal affairs, to serve as the Acting Managing Director after Oimeke’s contract renewal was challenged in court.
