Employment and Labour Court Sends Tough Order to President Uhuru

The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi on Friday, November 15, ordered president Uhuru Kenyatta to exercise his powers to avert a crisis at the helm of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

In his ruling, Justice Byram Ongaya nullified a July 18, 2019 appointment of 13 members to the Communications Authority of Kenya Board, but retained embattled Director-General Francis Wangusi in charge.

The judge dismissed the appointment of Mercy Wanjau as Wangusi's replacement.

He ordered President Kenyatta to gazette the extension of Wangusi's term until a new board was constituted to recruit CA’s new DG.

“CA had no board to appoint the regulator’s director-general and as you all know, only the board has the powers to appoint the DG. The ICT minister doesn’t have the powers to hand-pick a suitable person for the position of the director general. The due procedure must be followed,”  the judge ruled.

He further ordered the feuding parties in the suit to both pay 50 per cent of the litigation's cost.

Wangusi’s contract ended on August 21, 2019, but refused to leave office, claiming Ms Wanjau had been irregularly picked as his replacement.

He added that the current board was not lawfully constituted and could not purport to appoint his replacement.

Wanjau's appointment was done despite a court order that kept Wangusi in office until a case filed by Henry Kurauka on behalf of Consumer Federation of Kenya was heard and determined.

The Consumer Federation of Kenya claimed CA illegally conducted the recruitment of its director general without a legitimate board, contrary to the law.

The term of the current board had expired on April 29, 2019, making it's continued to stay in office illegal.

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