Deep divisions have continued to widen at the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) as potential candidates engage in a vicious scramble to become the next Director General of the agency.

Sources at KURA inform Swala Nyeti of a spirited campaign in the agency to edge out current KURA Director General, Eng Silas Kinoti, amid boardroom wars as his tenure ends in 2023.

The top contender seeking to replace Eng Kinoti, who was appointed on June 18, 2020 for a three-year renewable term, is current Urban Roads Development Director Eng Wilfred Oginga.

According to insiders, Eng Oginga’s ambition to take over from Eng Kinoti when his term ends in June 2023 has split the urban roads agency right in the middle as tension mounts each day.

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 Eng Wilfred Oginga.

He is said to be lobbying openly and behind the scenes and is reported to have sent emissaries to new Roads and Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen as he seeks backing for his candidature.

The overtures to Murkomen a fortnight ago are said to have fallen flat after the CS got wind of his plan and Eng Oginga is now reported to be mobilizing political backing for his suitability.

However, in feeding his growing ambition and in pushing for various key road projects, the director is reported to have stepped on many KURA toes and this might come back to bite him.

Eng Silas Kinoti. PHOTO/COURTESY

Director General Eng Silas Kinoti, when contacted for comment, said he was unaware of Eng Oginga’s attempts to replace him at the helm of KURA even as our sources spoke of sour relations between the two.

Kinoti joined Kura in 2009 as a manager before being promoted to general manager planning and environment, a position he held until 2015 when he was appointed acting director general then confirmed on June 18, 2020 by then Transport CS James Macharia.

Eng Oginga, who is said to have acquired vast wealth very fast and owns a number of businesses and property in and out of Nairobi, supported Gladys Wanga in the Homa Bay governor election even as his moves continue to attract attention from likely and unlikely quarters.