Ngetich & 3 others v County Service Board Bomet & another
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed that fixed-term county employees cannot claim permanent jobs through 'legitimate expectation' when their hiring bypassed the County Public Service Board.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the appellants were lawfully employed by the 1st respondent
They were not. Appointments were made by the County Government of Bomet's HR Department and renewals by the County Secretary, neither of which is the Board, and no written delegation under section 86(1) was proved.
The Board alone has statutory power under section 59(1)(b) to appoint persons to county public service offices. The record showed appointments by the County Government's Human Resources Department and renewals by the Office of the County Secretary, neither of which is an organ of the Board. Section 86(1) permits delegation only in writing to a specific person or office, and no such delegation was on record. The recruitment and renewals were therefore irregular and contrary to statute.
Whether the appellants had a legitimate expectation of permanent employment
No. Fixed-term contracts carry no expectation of renewal absent an express promise or established practice, and irregular employment cannot found such an expectation.
The court traced the doctrine through Indian, English, Australian and Kenyan authorities, holding that legitimate expectation is a creature of administrative law, not a legal right, and has no place in contractual engagements. Since the appellants' employment was itself irregular and contrary to statute, its invalidity could not ground an expectation of continued service, and there was no promise or regular practice of conversion to permanent terms.
Whether the appellants had a sustainable cause of action against the respondents
No, both for non-joinder of the true employer and for want of any right of claim against the respondents.
The recruitment and renewals were acts of the County Government of Bomet, which was not joined as a party to the trial suit. The appellants ought to have joined the county government or the County Secretary. Independently, they had no right of claim against the Board or its Chairman because neither had any hand in their recruitment or renewal.
Legal principles established
#- Appointment of persons to county public service offices is the statutory preserve of the County Public Service Board under section 59(1)(b) of the County Governments Act, and recruitment by any other body requires written delegation under section 86(1).
- Fixed-term contracts carry no legitimate expectation of renewal or conversion to permanent employment absent an express promise or established practice.
- The doctrine of legitimate expectation belongs to administrative and constitutional law and cannot be transplanted wholesale into contract or employment law.
- On a first appeal the Court of Appeal must re-assess the evidence and reach its own conclusions.
Court orders
#- 1.The appellants' appeal be and is hereby dismissed
- 2.The judgment of the Employment and Labour Relations Court at Kericho (D. K. Njagi Marete, J) delivered on 15th December 2017 in ELRC Cause No. 46 of 2017 be and is hereby upheld
- 3.Each party bears their own costs
- On appeal from
- Employment and Labour Relations Court at Kericho
- E.L.R.C Case No. 46 of 2017
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appeal to the Court of Appeal against the decision of the Employment and Labour Relations Court
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Ongete v Registrar; Nairobi City County (Interested Party) (Environment and Land Petition 5 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 8673 (KLR)[2025] KEELC 8673 (KLR)5 Dec 2025applied
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Ngetich & 3 others v County Service Board Bomet & another", Case Analysis (2022). Civil Appeal 20 of 2018. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2022/575/eng@2022-04-28
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.