Okech v Migori County Public Service Board (Appeal E054 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 860 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment and Labour Relations Court confirmed it cannot hear appeals against Public Service Commission decisions, so aggrieved public officers must use other legal routes.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the respondent's Preliminary Objection dated 20th January, 2025 meets the threshold of a Preliminary Objection
- 2.Whether the Employment and Labour Relations Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from the Public Service Commission
Key legal issues
#Whether the ELRC has jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Public Service Commission
The court has no jurisdiction; Article 162(2)(a) does not confer appellate jurisdiction over PSC decisions and Section 89 of the PSC Act confines the ELRC to adoption and enforcement of those decisions.
Section 12 of the ELRC Act extends appellate jurisdiction only from tribunals or commissions as prescribed by written law. The Public Service Commission Act contains no appeal route to the ELRC, mentioning the court exclusively for enforcement of PSC decisions under Section 89. The PSC processes are internal dispute resolution mechanisms; a dissatisfied public officer may thereafter invoke the ordinary judicial process by fresh proceedings, but not by appeal to the ELRC. Jurisdiction must be traceable to the Constitution or statute.
Whether the Public Service Commission sits as a subordinate court or tribunal so as to attract appeals
The court declined to so characterise the PSC; it is neither a tribunal nor a subordinate court from which an appeal lies.
The Public Service Commission Act does not adopt the nomenclature of subordinate court or tribunal. Unlike arbitration, its members need not be advocates or possess defined professional qualifications, and it does not hear and record evidence and prepare formal awards. Parliament could have designated it a subordinate court if it intended appeals to lie, but did not.
Whether the Preliminary Objection meets the Mukisa Biscuit threshold
Yes; it raises a pure point of law - jurisdiction - which may dispose of the appeal.
Guided by Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Co. Ltd v West End Distributors Ltd, the court was satisfied that the objection, founded on Article 162(2), Section 12(5) of the ELRC Act and Section 89 of the PSC Act, meets the threshold of a preliminary objection as it rests purely on a question of law going to jurisdiction.
Legal principles established
#- The ELRC has no appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the Public Service Commission; its role under Section 89 of the Public Service Commission Act is limited to adopting and enforcing such decisions
- Appeals from other local tribunals or commissions lie in the ELRC only where written law expressly prescribes them
- The appellate and review process under the Public Service Commission Act is part of the internal dispute resolution mechanism which must be exhausted before invoking the court's jurisdiction
Court orders
#- 1.The respondent's Preliminary Objection dated 20th January, 2025 is upheld/merited
- 2.The appellant's appeal is struck out
- 3.No orders as to costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- On appeal from
- Public Service Commission
- County Appeal No. 014 of 2024
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Article 162(2) of the Constitution; Sections 12(1), 12(5) Employment and Labour Relations Court Act; Section 89 Public Service Commission Act
Relief refused
#Appellant's appeal seeking setting aside of the Public Service Commission's decision in County Appeal No. 014 of 2024
The ELRC has no jurisdiction to entertain appeals against decisions of the Public Service Commission
Costs
The appeal is struck out with no Orders as to costs
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
In the upshot, the respondent’s Preliminary Objection dated 20th January, 2025 is merited and the appellants appeal herein is struck out with no Orders as to costs.
it is the finding of the court that it has no jurisdiction to entertain appeals against decisions of the Public Service Commission either pursuant to the provisions of the Public Service Commission Act or any other legislation or the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
The first port of call for public oficers afiected by decisions of other persons, bodies or authorities in the Public Service is the Public Service Commission. The court is the port of last resort.
Jurisdiction is everything. Without it, a court has no power to make one more step.
Issues in the judgment
#Judgment inconsistently cites 'Section 12(5) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act' and 'Section 12(5) of the Employment and Labour Relations Court Act' when describing the same provision
Internal inconsistency: the court characterises the PSC appeal process as internal dispute resolution that must be exhausted before invoking the court's jurisdiction, yet also states a dissatisfied person may 'ignore the decision and invoke the judicial process', and the appellant's prior judicial review was struck out for failure to exhaust internal reliefs
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Okech v Migori County Public Service Board (Appeal E054 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 860 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Appeal dated 1st October, 2024 (against Ruling dated 18th September, 2024 in County Appeal No. 014 of 2024, Public Service Commission). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/860/eng@2025-03-18
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.