KWS boss sued over cancelled insurance tender
Courts
By
Nancy Gitonga
| Feb 04, 2026
A petition has been filed seeking the removal of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Managing Director Erastus Kanga over allegations of mismanagement of a Sh710 million insurance tender at the state agency.
The lawsuit, filed by activist Francis Awino at the Milimani High Court, accuses Prof Kanga of unlawfully terminating a medical insurance procurement process in defiance of binding court orders and escalating costs by Sh30 million.
According to court papers, the dispute centres on Tender No. KWS/ONT/HRA/65/2024–2025 for the provision of comprehensive group medical insurance cover for KWS staff, valued at approximately Sh710 million.
The procurement process, which commenced in March 2025, is said to have been plagued by controversy, including multiple terminations, review proceedings and alleged disregard of binding directives from oversight bodies.
Court documents indicate that Prof Kanga irregularly terminated the procurement process on November 12, 2025, citing what he termed material governance issues, despite existing orders from the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) and the High Court directing the completion of a re-evaluation exercise.
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“The Respondent’s conduct had the direct effect of escalating the potential cost of the procurement from the evaluated sum of approximately Sh710 million to an inflated figure of approximately Sh740 million, thereby exposing public funds to unjustified and unexplained financial risk,” the petition states.
In its decision delivered on December 15, 2025, the PPARB found that Prof Kanga’s termination of the tender was procedurally and substantively unlawful, unconstitutional, and in violation of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act (PPADA).
The Board further noted that the termination of the tender was not carried out in compliance with the law.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye yesterday ordered the petitioner to serve Prof Kanga, the EACC, the DPP, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and the Attorney General with the pleadings by close of business on February 11, 2026.
The court further directed Prof Kanga to file his responses to the allegations by March 13, 2026.