The recruitment of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Secretary/Chief Executive Officer has been suspended after the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) in Malindi issued temporary orders stopping further steps in the process.
Justice J.N. Abuodha, in a ruling delivered on Thursday, November 5, certified a petition filed by Thomas Kennedy Balala as urgent and granted conservatory orders halting the recruitment pending an inter partes hearing on November 17.
The orders, issued in case ELRCPET/E005/2026, effectively put on hold interviews for nine candidates shortlisted for the position, which had been scheduled for November 12 and 13.
The shortlisted candidates are Anthony Omerikwa, Halakhe Waqo, Harley Mutisya, Edmund Odiwuor Malitt, Andrew Gitau Kimani, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdi, Edward Katama Ngeywa, Martina Wato Yattani and Nelly Ilongo.
The court's intervention comes amid a separate legal challenge filed at the High Court in Nairobi questioning the constitutionality of IEBC's decision to outsource key stages of the recruitment to KPMG Advisory Services Limited.
In the petition, Dr Augustus Kyalo Muli and the NLP party challenge the commission's engagement of the consultancy to oversee what IEBC described as end-to-end recruitment, including advertisement, receipt of applications, longlisting, verification and shortlisting.
Justice R.E. Aburili on Wednesday, November 4, declined to certify the Nairobi petition as extremely urgent for ex-parte consideration and directed that the matter be mentioned on November 11.
The petition raises questions about whether delegating substantive recruitment functions to an external consultancy is consistent with the constitutional independence and mandate of the electoral commission.
The petitioners have cited Article 250(12) of the Constitution and Section 10 of the IEBC Act in challenging the arrangement.
They have also sought access to documents relating to the recruitment under Article 35 of the Constitution, including the contract between IEBC and KPMG, the recruitment scoring matrix, the commission's resolution authorising the engagement and the financial terms of the consultancy.
Welcoming the Malindi court orders, Muli said the ruling reinforced the urgency of the issues raised in the Nairobi petition.
“We welcome the Malindi orders. They confirm prima facie urgency. However, since IEBC contests ELRC jurisdiction over Article 250(12) appointments, we will still urge the Constitutional Court in Nairobi on 11 November to grant sustainable protection,” he said.
The two cases raise separate but related legal questions about the recruitment process, including the jurisdiction of the courts and the extent to which IEBC can delegate recruitment functions to an external firm.
The Nairobi case is expected to provide further direction on the constitutional questions surrounding the recruitment, while the Malindi orders remain in force pending the November 17 hearing.
