President William Ruto named three individuals, including a former Member of Parliament and an ex-Deputy Governor, in the latest round of appointments across various State bodies.
Through a gazette notice, Ruto appointed Lawrence Gumbe, Sylvanus Maritim and Lily Ng’ok as chairpersons in various government bodies.
Former Ainamoi MP Maritim was appointed as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE), and will be at the helm for a period of three years.
“In exercise of the powers conferred section 6 of the State Corporations Act, as read together with section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint— Sylvanus Maritim to be the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Kenya Industrial Estates, for a period of three (3) years,” the notice read.
Maritim’s appointment triggered the revocation of Lily Ng’ok from the same role. Maritim was elected as Ainamoi MP through a Jubilee Party ticket from 2017 to 2022.
Prior to his appointment, he was the holder of another State job, as the chair of the Information and Communications Technology Authority. (ICTA).
Despite the revocation of her previous appointment, Lily Ng’ok, the former Deputy Governor of Kericho County, has been named the new Chair of the Information and Communications Technology Authority (ICTA), replacing Maritim. She will serve a three-year term.
Ng’ok served as the Deputy Governor of Kericho County from April 2021 until the end of the 2017–2022 term. She assumed the position following the passing of the late Deputy Governor Susan Kikwai on March 20, 2021.
Prior to that, Ng’ok had served as the County Executive Committee (CEC) member for Education, Sports, and Social Services. She was nominated by Governor Paul Chepkwony, approved by the Kericho County Assembly on April 23, 2021, and subsequently sworn in as the second Deputy Governor of Kericho County.
Additionally, President Ruto appointed Lawrence Gumbe as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NPEA). Gumbe, a distinguished Kenyan engineer, will serve a four-year term.
Despite his extensive experience in engineering, Gumbe has been actively involved in Kenyan politics, particularly with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Gumbe once served as the Chairman of LDP. In this capacity, he was involved in political activities and legal proceedings, including a notable case in 2005 where he, alongside other party officials, challenged actions by the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) leadership.
In his association with ODM, Gumbe consulted with ODM and contributed to its publications, such as the Orange newsletter. In a 2024 dialogue with the Communist Party of Kenya (Marxist), he defended ODM leader Raila Odinga's political legacy, highlighting Odinga's contributions to Kenya's democratic development.
