The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) on Friday, February 3, obtained orders to revoke the appointment of Joe Sang as the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company, two weeks after he was reinstated.
While announcing the development, LSK President Eric Theuri noted that the orders gave a nod for the Kenya Pipeline board to appoint an acting MD.
“The LSK obtains orders suspending the appointment of Joe Sang as acting MD Kenya Pipeline. The board has been granted the liberty to appoint acting MD from amongst the senior management at the Corporation," Theuri stated.
The lawyers' umbrella body had moved to court challenging the decision of the KPC board to reinstate Sang as the MD.
KPC's board announced his appointment as the Managing Director in an acting capacity on January 23, a month after he was acquitted from a case implicating him in a Ksh1.97 billion scandal and the company.
His tribulations as the MD of KPC date back to 2018, when he was compelled to step down from his role after the allegations implicating him and five other managers in the corruption scandal.
Sang left his position under dramatic circumstances at the height of the disquiet in the former Jubilee administration.
In December 2022, he appeared to have finally managed to shake off his tribulations after the Anti-Corruption Court acquitted him and his co-accused from the charges, citing a lack of evidence.
One month after his acquittal, KPC's board of directors announced his appointment - terming his return as a major boost in its endeavours to soar back into profit-making.
In a statement from KPC, board chair Faith Bett noted that the company had registered a record-high profit during Sang's earlier stint as the MD from 2016 to 2018.
As such, the board chair expressed confidence in the decision to revert to Sang's services amid plummeting profit in the past years.
"Sang's brief but highly effective tenure at KPC saw remarkable changes in the management and performance of the State Corporation," the chair noted in justifying his appointment.
However, his appointment sparked protests from a section of Kenyans who were opposed to the series of withdrawal of graft cases by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
