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ELRCStruck OutPetition (Amended Petition dated 10th April 2025)

Pawa Africa v Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education & 3 others (Employment and Labour Relations Petition E130 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 2820 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
21 October 2025
HWHellen Wasilwa
6,540 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
AI-assisted case brief
·~26 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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A petition challenging university Vice Chancellors' re-appointments was struck out because the affected universities and alumni associations were never joined as parties.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The Petitioner, a civil society organization, filed an Amended Petition dated 10th April 2025 challenging the second-term re-appointment of the Vice Chancellors of Meru University of Science & Technology (MUST) and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT) without competitive recruitment under Section 39(1)(a) of the Universities Act, and sought wide-ranging declarations including invalidation of the re-appointments, revocation of instructions withholding alumni funds, personal liability for debts incurred, and enforcement powers for the Petitioner. The 1st and 2nd Respondents filed a preliminary objection grounded on want of specificity (Anarita Karimi Njeru), misjoinder, exhaustion of internal mechanisms and abuse of process; the 3rd Respondent objected on jurisdictional and procedural grounds and defended his renewal as lawful under Section 39(3), his Charter and contract clause 13, relying on the Itolondo decisions that re-appointment is not fresh recruitment. The 4th Respondent did not participate, not having been served. The court, Wasilwa J, writing by way of written submissions, did not reach the substantive merits. It found that the allegations of breach concerned MUST, JKUAT, their councils and alumni associations, none of which were parties, so their answers were necessary for a just determination. Given the deficiencies in the pleadings and absence of relevant parties, the court struck out the petition with no order of costs. The judgment leaves the question of whether Section 39(3) permits renewal without competitive recruitment unresolved.

Questions the Court framed

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

  1. 1.Whether the Amended Petition is incompetent and bad in law for misjoinder of parties and causes of action, non-compliance with the ELRC (Procedure) Rules, and non-payment of filing fees
  2. 2.Whether the re-appointment of the 3rd and 4th Respondents as Vice Chancellors for a second term without competitive recruitment violated Section 39(1)(a) of the Universities Act
  3. 3.Whether the Petitioner's allegations of withholding Alumni Association funds, mismanagement and abuse of office were merited

Key legal issues

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01

Misjoinder of parties and causes of action

Holding

The petition was struck out because the universities, university councils and alumni associations against whom breaches were alleged were not joined

Reasoning

The court found that allegations of breaches concerned MUST, JKUAT and their alumni associations, none of which were parties. The 1st and 2nd Respondents argued, and the 3rd Respondent accepted, that only the respective University Councils could answer whether the occupation of office was proper. Without those parties the court could not reach a just and valid position, leaving striking out as the only alternative.

p. 13

Legal principles established

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  • A petition whose proper parties (the universities, their councils and alumni associations) are not joined cannot be justly determined and may be struck out

Court orders

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  1. 1.The petition is struck out
  2. 2.No order of costs

The bench

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

HW
majority

Wrote the judgment

Jurisdiction invoked
Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, 2024; Articles 10, 73 and 75 of the Constitution as invoked by the Petitioner

Relief refused

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All twelve substantive prayers in the Amended Petition, including declarations of invalidity of the 3rd and 4th Respondents' second-term appointments and orders for enforcement

The relevant universities and alumni associations were not joined as parties, making a just determination impossible

p. 13

Costs

There shall be no order of costs.

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.

In view of these shortfalls in the way the pleadings have been crafted and without the relevant parties being part of this petition, proceeding to determine this petition becomes an uphill task. The only alternative therefore is to strike out this petition, which I proceed to do. There shall be no order of costs.
p. 13disposition - striking out for misjoinder

Issues in the judgment

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minor

The 4th Respondent was never served and did not participate, yet the court proceeded to strike out the petition without addressing service or substitution

minor

Court title not stated in the extract; the parties' full names are not given beyond office descriptions

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, "Pawa Africa v Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education & 3 others (Employment and Labour Relations Petition E130 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 2820 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Petition (Amended Petition dated 10th April 2025). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/2820/eng@2025-10-21

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