Two Kenyan citizens have petitioned Parliament to investigate the appointment and continued tenure of Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) Director-General Eng. Silas Murira Kinoti, amid a separate constitutional case challenging his continued occupation of the office.
Omondi Charles and Velma Ongalo want the National Assembly to establish the legal and administrative basis upon which Kinoti has continued to serve as KURA director-general following the alleged expiry of his term on June 18, 2026.
The petition, filed under Article 119 of the Constitution, was received by the National Assembly on October 6.
The petitioners are seeking an inquiry into Kinoti’s appointment, successive terms, any renewal or extension of his tenure and the role played by the KURA Board and the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Roads and Transport.
They have also asked Parliament to establish whether any appointment, reappointment, renewal, extension or transitional arrangement was made after June 18 and, if so, the legal authority, date and duration of that instrument.
The petitioners say they have been unable to establish the documentary basis for Kinoti’s continued tenure, but stop short of alleging that no such instrument exists.
“The Petitioners have not been furnished with the complete set of instruments necessary to establish the legal basis of the continued tenure,” they state in the petition.
According to the petition, Kinoti was appointed director-general of KURA on June 19, 2020, for a three-year term that expired on June 18, 2023.
The petitioners claim he subsequently received a further term which expired on June 18, 2026.
They now want Parliament to establish what legal instrument, if any, authorised his continued occupation of the office after that date.
The inquiry they seek would include scrutiny of Kinoti’s original appointment letter, his employment contracts, KURA Board resolutions, any Gazette Notices relating to his appointment or renewal and correspondence between the authority and the Ministry of Roads and Transport.
They also want Parliament to obtain any legal opinions sought by KURA or the Ministry concerning his tenure.
The petition further seeks payroll records and payment authorisations relating to the director-general’s salary, allowances and other benefits for the period under scrutiny.
2025 law changes
The petitioners have also raised questions over amendments made to the Kenya Roads Act in 2025, particularly provisions dealing with the tenure of directors-general of road authorities and transitional arrangements for officers already serving in those positions.
They want the National Assembly to examine how the amended law was interpreted and applied in relation to KURA’s director-general.
The petitioners have asked Parliament to determine whether the transitional provisions were properly applied and whether the current statutory framework is sufficiently clear on the tenure of chief executive officers of road authorities.
They have invoked Articles 10, 73 and 232 of the Constitution, which provide for national values and principles of governance, public trust, integrity, transparency and accountability in public service.
According to the petition, uncertainty over the legal basis for occupying a public office could affect public confidence in the governance of the institution.
The petitioners, however, have not alleged that any specific remuneration paid to Kinoti after June 18 was unlawful.
Instead, they want Parliament to establish whether salary, allowances and other benefits continued to be paid after the alleged expiry of his term and whether such payments were authorised in accordance with the law.
The parliamentary petition comes as the same petitioners pursue a constitutional case before the High Court in Kiambu concerning Kinoti’s continued exercise of the office.
The case, Constitutional and Human Rights Petition No. E119 of 2026, was filed on September 29.
On October 2, Justice Francis Nyungu Kyambia directed the respondents to file and serve their responses to the petition and the accompanying application within seven days of service.
The matter is scheduled for hearing on November 16, 2026.
The petitioners have disclosed the High Court proceedings in their parliamentary petition and emphasised that they are not asking Parliament to determine matters falling within the Judiciary’s jurisdiction.
They say their parliamentary petition instead concerns oversight of KURA, access to official records, public resources, governance and the implementation of legislation governing road authorities.
“The Petitioners do not invite the National Assembly to pronounce upon, determine or interfere with any question reserved for determination by the High Court,” the petition states.
The petitioners have also disclosed two earlier employment and labour-related cases concerning the tenure and occupation of the KURA director-general’s office ELRC Petition No. E030 of 2026 in Nakuru and ELRC Petition No. E041 of 2026 in Kisumu.
They state that both matters were withdrawn before determination on their merits.
The petition seeks specific scrutiny of the KURA Board’s role in Kinoti’s appointment and subsequent tenure.
The petitioners want the committee handling the matter to establish whether the Board took any decision concerning his tenure after June 18, whether it obtained legal advice and whether it communicated the position to the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Roads and Transport.
They similarly want Parliament to establish whether the Ministry received or issued correspondence concerning the director-general’s tenure after the alleged expiry date.
The petitioners have asked Parliament to require KURA, its Board, the responsible Cabinet Secretary and other relevant State offices to produce the records necessary to answer those questions.
They want the National Assembly to establish the precise statutory and administrative basis upon which Kinoti continued to exercise the functions of director-general after June 18.
They are also asking Parliament to examine whether the 2025 amendments to the Kenya Roads Act have been consistently implemented and, if necessary, recommend changes to clarify the tenure and transition of directors-general of road authorities.
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