President William Ruto has re-appointed Charles Nyachae, a former candidate for the position of Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), as Chair of the Kenya School of Government.

Through a gazette notice, Ruto announced Nyachae’s re-appointment for a three-year term, with immediate effect.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6(1)(a) of the Kenya School of Government Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, re-appoint Charles Nyachae to be the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Kenya School of Government Council, for three (3) years,” the notice read.

Nyachae had been shortlisted for the position of IEBC Chairperson but was ultimately not selected, as Erastus Ethekon was appointed and later sworn in as the new head of the electoral commission.

President William Ruto addressing Kenyans living in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2025.

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Other than Nyachae, Ruto appointed former Lafey Member of Parliament Abdi Mude Ibrahim to be the chair of the Board of Directors at the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute for three years. Mude was Lafey MP from 2017 to 2022.

Another Ruto appointment was former Cooperatives Principal Secretary Ali Noor Ismail to be the chair of the Pest Control Products Board for three years. Ismail had served under the Jubilee government, and was initially the Labour PS. He was later named Cooperatives PS in 2015.

He also had a short stint as Environment and Forestry PS from 2018 to 2019, before later being moved back to Cooperatives.

Nyachae and Ethekon had made the final cut for the position of IEBC chair together with Anne Amadi and Abdulqadir Lorot H. Ramadhan. The list had been whittled down to four candidates from an initial pool of 11.

However, ahead of the interviews, Nyachae was the subject of a petition filed in court seeking orders to block the IEBC Selection Panel from conducting his interview, as well as that of Joy Midivo.

In the petition filed against the selection panel chairperson Nelson Makanda and others, the petitioner argued that the candidates were disqualified from holding the Commission's chairmanship due to their positions in state offices.

Consequently, the group had implored the High Court to declare conservatory orders to prevent their interviews, asserting that the shortlisting violates the constitution and principles of good governance.

For Nyachae, the petitioner argued he was ineligible because he was a state officer by holding the office of Chairperson of the Council of the Kenya School of Government. 

Gazette records revealed that Nyachae was appointed to serve as the KSG chair from January 24, 2024, to July 12, 2025. This means he had reached the expiry of his term upon his re-appointment.

A section of the Cabinet during the national retreat at Karen in Nairobi on June 19, 2025.

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