The Court of Appeal has suspended a ruling directing the Judiciary to confirm a senior official as the director of finance, pending the determination of an appeal filed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
A bench of three judges said the JSC had demonstrated an arguable case as the appeal may be rendered useless if the decision of the Employment and Labour court in March is not suspended.
The Employment Court on March 10 directed the JSC to immediately confirm Ms Susan Oyatsi as the director of finance. This is after she obtained orders blocking the JSC from conducting interviews to fill the position, which she has been acting on for more than six years.
Justice Nduma Nderi had also directed the JSC to pay Ms Oyatsi Sh13.6 million after ruling that she had been underpaid since 2018.
“We agree with the applicant that the appeal will be rendered nugatory if the order of stay of execution is not granted for the above reasons. We may add that the decisions to be made by the respondent in that office may as well be of far-reaching consequences and irreversible in case the maker is said to have had no authority to make them in that capacity and as envisaged in the judgment of the trial court,” Justices Asike Makhandia, Fatuma Sichale and Hellen Omondi said.
Ms Oyasti won the battle to be confirmed to the position after the court ruled that the inordinate delay in confirming her to the position not only perpetrated a violation of her right to fair labour practices and the right to fair remuneration but also violated her right to equal protection and equal benefits of the law.
Ms Oyatsi moved to court last year after the JSC advertised the position for the third time yet she has been performing the duties of the director of finance for more than six years.
She joined the Judiciary in June 2013 as the regional assistant director for Nairobi. The Directorate of Finance has not had a substantive office holder since November 2013.
