Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga is facing a fresh legal battle after a lobby group moved to have him committed to civil jail for six months over allegations that he disobeyed court orders stopping the removal and disposal of railway scrap metal and other infrastructure materials.
The Centre for Litigation Trust (CLT), through its Executive Director Julius Ogogoh, has filed a contempt of court application against Mainga and Kenya Railways Deputy Head of Security Daniel Okeyo, accusing them of continuing with the disputed operations despite orders issued by the High Court in Kisumu.
The application also targets Maulik and Dinesh Trivedi, directors of Muranga Freight Logistics Limited, a company accused of being involved in transporting the railway materials to a private yard in Athi River, Machakos County.
The group wants the court to punish the four individuals for allegedly disregarding orders intended to preserve public railway assets and prevent their further removal or disposal.
The contempt application follows conservatory orders issued by Justice Joe Omido on October 29, 2026, barring Kenya Railways, Mainga and the companies involved from removing, transporting, selling, processing, melting, dismantling or disposing of railway scrap metal, sleepers, rails and other related infrastructure materials.
The judge also directed the respondents to preserve all records and evidence connected to the movement of the materials pending further directions from the court.
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Alleged Defiance of Court Orders
In its latest application, the Centre for Litigation Trust claims that the removal and transportation of railway materials continued even after the court issued the preservation orders.
The organisation alleges that the materials were moved from Kenya Railways stations in Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret and Naivasha before being transported to a private storage yard in Athi River.
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According to the court filings, privately owned trucks belonging to Muranga Freight Logistics Limited were used in the transportation exercise.
The lobby group further claims that some of the consignments were accompanied by police officers, raising questions about the circumstances under which public security personnel were deployed to escort vehicles transporting assets belonging to a state corporation.
The petitioners accuse Mainga and Okeyo of being involved in the operation, with Okeyo allegedly indicating that he was acting on instructions from the managing director.
These claims are contained in the court application and are yet to be established through a determination by the court.
Truck Intercepted Near Voi
One of the incidents cited in the dispute involves a truck carrying railway materials that reportedly broke down near Voi along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway on September 29, 2026.
According to the petitioners, Kenya Wildlife Service rangers who encountered the vehicle discovered that the driver did not have documents such as a packing list, gate pass or weighbridge permit to account for the materials being transported.
The incident has become a central part of the lobby group’s argument that the movement of the railway assets lacked adequate documentation and should be investigated.
The organisation also questions whether the materials were being transported for authorised storage, repair, salvage or lawful disposal.
Court Orders Preservation of Key Evidence
In issuing the earlier orders, Justice Omido directed Kenya Railways and the other respondents to preserve documentary, electronic and physical evidence relating to the removal and transportation of the materials.
The records include CCTV footage, GPS and vehicle-tracking information, vehicle logbooks, railway station gate registers, weighbridge records, delivery notes, invoices, purchase orders and disposal authorisations.
The court also directed the preservation of tender documents, auction records, contracts, payment records and other communications that could help establish how the materials were handled.
The Centre for Litigation Trust argues that these records are critical in determining who authorised the movement of the materials, their value, their destination and whether any disposal was conducted in accordance with the law.
The group had previously raised concerns over the lack of publicly disclosed inventories, valuation reports, tender documents and sale agreements relating to the railway materials.
It also lodged a complaint with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on October 6, 2026, over the alleged removal and disposal of the public assets.
Fresh Scrutiny of Kenya Railways’ Asset Disposal
The dispute has placed the management of Kenya Railways’ assets under renewed scrutiny, particularly the procedures used when public corporations dispose of obsolete, unserviceable or surplus property.
The Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act provides the legal framework governing the disposal of public assets, including requirements for proper authorisation and transparent procedures.
The petitioners want the court to establish whether the railway materials were lawfully declared surplus, properly valued and disposed of through the required process.
They also want accountability over the involvement of private companies and the reported transportation of public assets to a private yard.
Separately, detectives in Nairobi reportedly recovered approximately 4.8 tonnes of suspected railway steel from a lorry in Industrial Area on October 31. The circumstances surrounding that recovery are a separate matter and do not, on their own, establish wrongdoing by the individuals named in the contempt application.
What Happens Next?
The contempt application is now awaiting further directions from the High Court in Kisumu.
The court is expected to issue directions on December 3, 2026, regarding the application seeking to have Mainga, Okeyo and the two private company directors committed to civil jail for six months.
