Eliud Owalo, the CS for Information and Communication and the Digital Economy, has sacked the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Acting Managing Director Samuel Maina.

Owalo says Maina committed Kenya government to pay Sh769.5 billion in a case pitting KBC against Channel 2 Group Corporation at the London Court of International Arbitration.

The CS accused him of pledging USD5 billion without concurrence of the ministry, National Treasury, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, ignoring earlier instructions.

Owalo has also directed that the board of KBC chaired by Eng Benjamin Maingi to instigate disciplinary action against Maina for the alleged illegal actions he’s accused of committing.

Paul Macharia, a communication economic expert from the National Communications Secretariat has been appointed as the Acting Managing Director effective December 19.

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The board has been further directed to expedite the process of interviewing and appointing a substantive Managing Director to the state corporation to replace the hired acting boss.

However, questions linger over whether an MD can make such a decision involving such a colossal amount of money without the approval of the corporation’s board. 


Maina was appointed Acting MD on March 25, 2022 with the board saying this aimed at ensuring continuity and smooth running after Naim Bilal's tenure ended on March 19, 2022.