Board of Directors

Hon. Peter Weru Kinyua is the current Chairman of KEPHIS, having been appointed on 13^th July 2022. He has extensive knowledge and experience in legislation, corporate administration, management, public service, finance and environment. He has a BSc. in Surveying from the University of Nairobi, Accountancy from Strathmore College (Currently Strathmore University) and Certified Environment Practitioner from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

He is a lead expert for the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), and works as a Consultant in Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). Consultant in Engineering Surveying for roads for various Road Contractors and Engineering Projects, Consultant for AMREF in aid of Ministry of Health in acceleration of Health-related Bills in Parliament and others in Youth Empowerment Programs.

Hon. Weru was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mathira Constituency in Nyeri County (2013-2017) where he offered great support for the community and environment. He has continuously played key roles in several water projects, Education sector, youth empowerment and mentorship Programmes, community development and environment conservation initiatives. Previously he worked in the corporate sector including at Safaricom and Vodafone starting from a Junior Officer and rising through the ranks to senior management level.

Prof. Theophilus M. Mutui is the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) official contact point for the Republic of Kenya. He is also the Representative of Kenya to the Council of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). He has over 25 years of experience, having previously worked at the National Biosafety Authority(NBA) as the Acting Director, Technical Services. He holds a Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences from Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. He did his post-doctorate studies at the University of Georgia, the USA, and the United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) in Maryland under a fellowship from the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA). At NBA, he was involved in establishing networks and partnerships with government entities, the private sector and development partners that were favourable to the Authority.

Prof. Mutui was formerly Country Coordinator for Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) programme for DG-SANCO for the European Union(EU) and a member of the National Food Safety Coordinating Committee. He has many years of experience in research, consultancy and teaching. He is a member in good standing of many local and International professional societies such as the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR), International Society of Horticultural Sciences(ISHS), Horticultural Association of Kenya(HAK) and a member of Kenya DAAD Scholars Association(KDSA). Prof. Mutui has widely published in international refereed journals and he is regularly invited as a guest speaker in international scientific conferences.

Mr. James Wanjohi was appointed to the Board on 28th January, 2022. He has had a distinguished career spanning 25 years as an agricultural development, food security and extension specialist, with local, regional and international exposure. He is currently working, at policy level, at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives.
He holds an MSc in Agricultural Extension and a BSc in Agriculture. He has also attended many trainings in the fields of agriculture and food security. He has corporate experience having been a board member of five other boards across the agriculture sector.

Mr. Silas M. Kilingo was appointed to the KEPHIS Board on 13th May, 2022. He is a holder of a BA(Hons) degree from the University of Nairobi where he majored in Psychology and Sociology. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Criminology.
He previously worked in the Kenya Air force in the technical department where he specialized in Engineering Control and Instrumentation. He has 36 years’ experience in both the public and private sector.

Mr. Atuko is currently a consultant with United Nations. Previously, he worked as County Executive for Health Services and Environment-Mining-Energy, both for Baringo County Government; Country Director for MENTOR Initiative, Kenya; Regional Manager for Kenya Red Cross, North Rift; Deputy Country Director for MENTOR Initiative, Liberia; Emergency Health Manager for Kenya Red Cross, Nairobi; Project Officer with Aga Khan Foundation, Mombasa; and has been a Public Health Consultant for over 6 years. He is a graduate of Public Health, Moi University, 2004.

Mr. Mutua is the Alternate Director to Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury. He is a seasoned civil servant with over 20 years’ experience in economic and financial policy formulation at the National Treasury. He has served in the National Fiscal Budget Preparation Team for many years and participated in regional integration issues including the negotiation of the East African Community Monetary Union Protocol. He is currently the Programme Co-ordinator for the Public Finance Management Reforms. Mr. Mutua holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Kenyatta University and a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Dares Salaam.

He also holds certificates in Fiscal Decentralization and Financial Institutions for Private Enterprise development from Duke and Harvard Universities respectively. He serves the KEPHIS board and is a member of Finance & Administration committee.

Ms. Litole is currently coordinating a woman and youth empowerment programme in West Pokot with Konrad Adenuor Foundation. She was previously with Kenya Utalii College till 2016 when she left to join the Konrad Adenuor Foundation. She is a holder of a Bachelor of Business Administration (Procurement and Supply Chain Management Option) and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Logistics and Procurement Management. She also holds certificates in Food and Beverages, Business Management, and Customer Service.

Dr. Njeru holds a Doctorate degree in Plant Sciences from Murdoch University, Australia and a Master’s degree in Plant Pathology from The University of Nairobi. Dr. Njeru has a wide experience in the field of plant health having served as a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi for over 15 years. She has also served as a Senior Scientist with the Ministry of Agriculture in Rwanda under a World bank funded Rural Sector Support Program for a period of four years. During the subsequent four years, she was a director inchargeof Capacity Building and Technology Deployment with an lnternational Non-Governmental Organisation. Dr. Njeru has published widely in peer reviewed journals, participated in International conferences and supervised PhD Students in the field of agronomy, plant breeding, biotechnology and plant health in general.

She has international experience as an; educator, trainer, researcher, in proposal development and capacity development with a focus on plant health, biotechnology, capacity building, documentation, communication, science, technology and innovation systems. Currently,Dr. Njeru is an independent international consultant in the field of plant health with an interest in plant health systems, compliance to international treaties especially the world Trade Organisation Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. She has been a consultant with several organizations including; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agriculture Development, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, a consortium of over 33 Universities in Africa, International Potato Centre and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture among others. She serves the KEPHIS Board, as a member of the Technical Committee.

Dr Stephen Maore is an expert in Strategy, Marketing and Brand Management with over 16 years’ experience in teaching, consultancy and practice in this area. Dr Maore is the Director, University Advancement and Marketing at Kenya Methodist University (KEMU). He has served as a senior lecturer and Lecturer of International Business, Marketing and Brand Management at KeMU since 2006. He is a qualified trainer approved by the International Finance Corporation as a Trainer of Trainers (2018). Dr Maore has handled various assignments in the area of strategic Planning, Marketing Planning, Branding Strategy Development, Customer care, Customer Service Charter Development, Corporate Communication and Market Research, among others. Dr Maore has been a lead assessor in the Company of the Year Awards program (COYA) since 2010, focusing on Leadership and Management, Customer Orientation and Marketing and Corporate Citizenship and Environmental Management.

In addition to the formal employment, Dr Maore served as the Chairman, Board of Directors at Meru County Investment and Development Corporation (MCIDC) from 2015 to 2018, and is currently a Member, Board of Directors at Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) since 2020 and a member of the Technical Committee on Standards at Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).

Academically, Dr Maore holds a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Nairobi, a Masters in Business Administration (MBA- Marketing) from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Education in Mathematics and Business Studies from Kenyatta University. He has published a number of papers in the area of branding and marketing with various reputable refereed journals.

Finally, Dr Maore is an active member of the Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK), Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and Certified Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Mr. Abonyo holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Valuation and Management and Bachelor of Commerce, Finance option from the UoN. He was appointed as a KEPHIS Non- Executive Director in May 2020. He comes with the experience of over 10 years as a director where he was the Chair in an investment committee of the Board at Mvelaphanda Capital (Kenya). He is also a director at Goldman Group.

Marstella Bahati Kahindi is a Masters holder in Business Administration with a specialization in Strategic Management. She also holds a Bachelors Degree in Arts second class upper Division. Both degrees from University of Nairobi.

She is a seasoned banker with over 35 years of experience having worked majorly at Kenya Commercial Bank and Absa Bank formerly Barclays Bank of Kenya. She is a certified Retail Banker one. She worked shortly at K-rep Bank now Sidian Bank and Agriculture Finance Cooperation. She prides herself in being responsible strategic, futuristic, arranger and relator, strengths built over the years.

Previously She was appointed to sit in the Board of Kenya Industrial Estates as a Non –Executive Director.

Marstella Bahati is a community leader organizing and mobilizing Coastal farmers around a cooperative to train, support and do farming right, for better yields, value add and get markets for the produce for improved lives of the farmers.