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ELRCOtherNot stated in the judgment (Notice of Motion dated 11th October, 2023 in a Petition)

Rotich v County Public Service Board, Narok County & 3 others; Koech & 7 others (Interested Parties) (Petition 22 of 2023) [2024] KEELRC 1057 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
25 April 2024
HWHellen Wasilwa
1,214 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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·~5 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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An Employment Court in Kenya refused to suspend new Narok ward administrators' appointments early, saying the request simply repeated what the main case already asks for.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This ruling of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (Hellen Wasilwa, J) determined a Notice of Motion dated 11th October 2023 filed by the Petitioner under the Employment Act, the Constitution and the Civil Procedure Rules. The Petitioner sought conservatory orders staying the appointment and assumption of office of four newly appointed ward administrators in Trans Mara East Sub-County (Kipkoech Koros, Kiplangat Biwott, Joseph Bett and Benerd Rono), contending that the 1st to 4th Interested Parties had held those ward administrator positions on permanent and pensionable terms since July 2014 and that the subsequent appointments contravened section 51 of the County Governments Act, which envisages one ward administrator per ward. The Petitioner alleged the appointments were unprocedural, illegal, discriminatory and made without reasons, and sought quashing of the appointments and their removal from the county payroll. The 2nd and 3rd Respondents, through a replying affidavit of the County Secretary John Mayiani Tuya, admitted the 2014 appointments but explained that the former administrators were removed and re-designated in 2023 to other positions at the same rank and salary due to exigencies of service, so that each ward had only one administrator and no breach of section 51 occurred, the appointments being made under section 59 of the County Governments Act. Neither party filed submissions. The court held that the orders sought in the application mirrored those in the main petition, so determining the application would amount to determining the petition. It therefore declined to issue any interim orders, directed the parties to proceed with the main petition, and reserved costs to the petition.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether conservatory orders should issue staying the appointment and assumption of office of the newly appointed ward administrators within Trans Mara East Sub-County pending hearing of the application and the petition

Key legal issues

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01

Whether interim conservatory orders should issue staying the appointment of new ward administrators

Holding

The court declined to issue any interim orders, directing the parties to proceed to the main petition.

Reasoning

The court observed that the conservatory orders sought in the motion were substantially the same as the prayers in the main petition. Granting them at the interlocutory stage would effectively dispose of the petition without a full hearing. The applicant also filed no submissions. The court therefore exercised its discretion to reserve all issues, including costs, for determination in the main petition.

p. 4

Legal principles established

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  • A court will decline to grant interlocutory orders where the relief sought in the application mirrors the substantive relief in the main petition, since determining the application would amount to determining the petition itself.

Court orders

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  1. 1.The court declined to issue any orders on the interlocutory application at this stage
  2. 2.Parties directed to proceed with the main petition
  3. 3.Costs reserved to be in the petition

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

HW
majority

Wrote the judgment

Jurisdiction invoked
Articles 159, 10, 27, 28, 41, 47, 50, 176 & 236 of the Constitution of Kenya; sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 31, 47, 48, 49 & 50 of the Employment Act; sections 1A, 1B, 3A of the Civil Procedure Act/Rules

Relief refused

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Conservatory orders staying the appointment and assumption of office of the newly appointed ward administrators (Kipkoech Koros, Kiplangat Biwott, Joseph Bett and Benerd Rono)

The orders sought in the application were similar to those sought in the main petition; determining the application would effectively determine the petition, so the court declined to grant interlocutory relief.

p. 4

Costs of the application

Costs were not awarded on the application; costs were reserved to the petition.

p. 4

Costs

Costs in the petition (no costs awarded on the application)

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

I note that the orders being sought in this application are similar to those in the main petition and if this court’s determines the application at this point, it would have determined the petition.
p. 4Interlocutory relief mirroring substantive petition relief
I would therefore decline to issue any orders at this point and direct the parties to proceed with the main petition. Costs in the petition.
p. 4Final orders - disposition

Issues in the judgment

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minor

The judgment does not state the petition case number, the parties' names in the caption, or the court station, making full identification of the cause difficult from the ruling alone.

minor

The judgment refers to the 1st Respondent as both the County Public Service Board and, in one passage, as an entity expected to give explanations for the appointments, while the County Secretary swears for the 2nd and 3rd Respondents; the precise mapping of parties to roles is not fully set out.

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Rotich v County Public Service Board, Narok County & 3 others; Koech & 7 others (Interested Parties) (Petition 22 of 2023) [2024] KEELRC 1057 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2024). Not stated in the judgment (Notice of Motion dated 11th October, 2023 in a Petition). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2024/1057/eng@2024-04-25

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.