Kenya Railways Corporation CEO Philip Mainga faces accusations of contempt of court after allegedly allowing the continued disposal of railway scrap metals and related infrastructure materials despite a judicial order prohibiting the practice.
On October 29, 2026, Justice Joe Omido of the High Court issued conservatory orders that barred Mainga, the KRC Board of Directors, Muranga Freight Logistics Limited and ABCOS Industrial Limited from dismantling, removing, transporting, selling or otherwise disposing of any Kenya Railways scrap metal, railway sleepers, rails or other infrastructure materials from the corporation’s termini across the country.
The orders were to remain in force until further direction from the court.
The judge also directed the respondents to preserve all related documentary, electronic and physical evidence. This included CCTV footage, GPS and vehicle tracking records, vehicle logbooks, gate registers, weighbridge data, delivery notes, invoices, purchase orders, disposal authorisations and tender documents.
The petition that led to the orders was filed by the Centre for Justice Litigation and certified as urgent by the court. Centre Executive Director Julius Ogogoh has now returned to court alleging that the orders have been ignored.
According to Ogogoh, Mainga, KRC Head of Security Daniel Okeyo and directors of Muranga Freight Logistics Limited, Maulik Trivedi and Dinesh Trivedi, have continued the removal and disposal of materials from the Mombasa terminus even after becoming aware of the court’s directive.
Ogogoh told the court that similar activity has taken place or is planned at termini in Kisumu, Eldoret, Naivasha, Mariakani and Kibwezi. He claimed that Mainga issued instructions for the disposal without regard to the conservatory orders and that the materials were moved using privately owned trucks to a private yard.
The process, he said, lacked transparent disclosure of the legal authority, valuation records, tender documents or sale agreements that would normally authorise such handling of public assets.
“KRC being a state corporation cannot lawfully treat public assets as though they are private property of individual office holders or private persons,” Ogogoh stated in the application.
He asked the court to compel Mainga to produce all authorising documents relating to the removal and disposal.
He further requested that the Attorney General investigate the circumstances under which police officers escorted the private vehicles carrying the railway materials.
The petition names Mainga, the Kenya Railways Corporation, its Board of Directors, Muranga Freight Logistics Limited and ABCOS Industrial Limited as respondents. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Scrap Metal Council were listed as interested parties.
Ogogoh also sought orders requiring ABCOS Industrial Limited to confirm whether the relevant persons and premises held the necessary licences under the Scrap Metal Act 2015 and whether the materials were acquired and handled in accordance with the law.
The case raises questions about the protection of public infrastructure assets and the enforcement of court orders against state corporations. Court records show that the original conservatory orders were issued to halt any further movement of the materials pending full determination of the petition.
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