Court stops hiring new KPA boss in board row

A court in Mombasa has stopped the hiring of a new Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director, pending hearing and determination of a case challenging the recruitment.

Employment and Labour Relations Court judge James Rika said he was satisfied that the petitioner had established a strong case, warranting a grant of an interim order barring the board from proceeding with the hiring process.

“Pending hearing and determination of the application filed by the petitioner inter partes, the respondents are barred from conducting interviews for the position of KPA managing director,” he said.

The judge said it is not disputed that the focus is on Covid-19 pandemic and that Mombasa, as well as the KPA itself, are affected.

“This is not, prima facie, conducive to conducting an open, transparent, inclusive and nationwide search for the managing director of KPA, a public entity, whose governance must conform to the tenets of the Constitution, highlighted in the petition,” he said.

Justice Rika said in the interim, the court agrees that the KPA is not hampered in its operations by keeping the position vacant until the matter is heard and concluded.

“There is an acting managing director who in the admission of the respondents, has a mandate, of up to September 2020.

“The KPA has general managers for its various departments, and would certainly not come to a standstill if the interim order of injunction issued,” the judge said.

The court also allowed Dock Workers Union to join the petition, saying “It is the workplace trade union with a stake in how its members are managed”.

In the case, the Commission for Human Rights and Justice has sued the KPA board, Transport ministry and Attorney-General Kariuki Kihara to halt the recruitment of new ports agency boss until the current board is restructured.

In a ruling delivered electronically, the judge directed the parties to submit their documents electronically before June 16.