By John Mutiso
President William Ruto has revoked the appointment of former Taveta MP Basil Criticos as the chairperson of the Board of the Kenya Trade Network Agency.
Two other board members have also been removed.
In a Gazette Notice dated December, President Ruto revoked the appointments of Basil Criticos, Paul Mwiti Mucheke and Abubakar Ketemon, with effect from December 5, 2025.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, revoke the appointments of Basil Criticos as the Chairperson, Paul Mwiti Mucheke and Abubakar Ketemon as members of the Board of Kenya Trade Network Agency, with effect from the 5th December, 2025,” the notice read.
Criticos was appointed to the position on May 22, 2023. His appointment was published in the Kenya Gazette on May 26, 2023, the same day he officially took office. He is a businessman well known for running a large sisal plantation in Taita Taveta County.
In 2022, Criticos disclosed that he sold 2,536 acres of land in the Mata area of Taita Taveta to President Ruto in 2017, when Ruto was serving as Deputy President. Ruto later said part of the land was gifted to him after he helped Criticos settle a debt owed to the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC).
“I am also a Mata elder because I helped the former Taveta MP to settle his loan at AFC and he gave me a portion of land,” Ruto said at the time.
Criticos previously lost a large part of his land following disputes with squatters in the early 2000s, during which about 500 acres were allocated to Mata squatters. He also faced challenges after the 99-year lease on his land expired, claiming the government under former President Daniel Moi declined to renew it.
