The Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Group Managing Director, Hillary Wachinga, wants the High Court to dismiss a petition seeking his removal from office over alleged recruitment interference and procurement irregularities.

Dr Wachinga says the hiring of a dozen senior management and professional positions, which the court recently halted, was lawful, transparent and independently managed by an external consultant under the supervision of the Board of Directors.

In a replying affidavit, Dr Wachinga says the contested recruitment followed Kenya Re's Human Resource Policy, which received board and Treasury approval, and was outsourced to Eagle HR Consultants.

The affidavit comes days after the court halted the recruitment, barring Kenya Re from interviewing candidates, processing applications and issuing appointment letters, pending determination of a petition filed by Mr Brian Ochieng.

The suspended recruitment covers General Manager positions for Reinsurance Business, Legal Services and Corporate Services, Chief Financial Officers for Kenya Re Tanzania and Zambia and the CEO/Principal Officer for Kenya Re Tanzania.

It also includes vacancies for Assistant Manager for Internal Audit, Senior Underwriter for Life, Senior Underwriter for Internal Business Facultative and Treaty, Senior Underwriter for West Africa, Senior Project Officer and Executive Analyst.

Dr Wachinga disputes claims that he controlled the hiring or had exclusive access to the applications.

He says Kenya Re hired Eagle HR Consultants to receive applications, profile candidates, prepare longlists, conduct aptitude and psychometric tests and submit final shortlists to the corporation.

"At this stage, the Group Managing Director of the Corporation has no role in the process, except to receive progress reports of the exercise from Eagle HR Consultants," he says in the affidavit.

He also rejects an allegation that a recruitment email account was created to facilitate interference. According to Dr Wachinga, the corporation's IT Department established the account to safeguard the recruitment, while the consultant received special access credentials to review applications.

"The corporation's IT department created this email in good faith with a view to promoting good governance and transparency of the recruitment," Dr Wachinga says in his affidavit.

The petitioner moved to court last month alleging that job applications were being processed through an opaque system accessible only to the managing director, creating room for "canvassing, compromising and interference."

The petition seeks declarations that Dr Wachinga violated the Constitution and statutory duties, is unfit to hold public office, and should be disqualified from holding such office.

Dr Wachinga further argues that the recruitment was necessary because the board had approved the positions to strengthen Kenya Re's operations and support regional expansion. He says the insurer has subsidiaries in Uganda, Zambia, Côte d'Ivoire and India and is establishing another in Tanzania while expanding its international life reinsurance business.

He says the corporation remains financially strong, citing audited 2025 results showing assets of Sh72.2 billion, shareholders' funds of Sh54.5 billion and profit after tax of Sh3.9 billion.

The affidavit also argues that several complaints raised in the petition belong before specialized statutory bodies instead of the High Court.

Dr Wachinga says procurement grievances should first be lodged with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, while allegations of workplace harassment and abuse of power fall within the mandate of the Commission on Administrative Justice.

He further contends that some procurement issues cited by the petitioner have already been determined by the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board and the High Court, while the dispute over payment of a Commission on Administrative Justice fine is currently before the Court of Appeal.

The affidavit also confirms that Kenya Re complied with the court's interim orders.

Dr Wachinga says he instructed Eagle HR Consultants to stop reviewing and longlisting candidates who had applied under the June 4, 2026 advertisement after the interim orders were issued. The suit is scheduled for judgment on October 1, 2026.

Kenya Re is a publicly listed reinsurer in which the Kenyan government holds a majority stake.

→ jwangui@ke.nationmedia.com

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