Commission for Human Rights & Justice v Board of Directors-Kenya Ports Authority & 2 others; Dock Workers Union (Intended Interested Party) (Petition 4 of 2020) [2020] KEELRC 970 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan court paused KPA's Managing Director interviews because Covid-19 restrictions made the national hiring process unfair and non-transparent.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Prima facie case for interim injunction
Interim bar on the recruitment granted pending inter partes hearing
The Court found the Petitioner had established a prima facie case. It reasoned that the Covid-19 pandemic and movement restrictions in and out of Mombasa were not conducive to an open, transparent, inclusive and nationwide search for a Managing Director of a public entity. KPA would not be hampered, as an acting Managing Director with a mandate up to September 2020 was in place and General Managers ran the departments.
Joinder of the Dock Workers Union
Union joined as Interested Party
The Union is the workplace trade union at KPA with a stake in how its members are managed, a major industrial player with a duty to check the management of KPA and safeguard members' welfare. The Court held it must be allowed to ventilate its concerns in the process, and joined it as Interested Party notwithstanding the Petitioner's opposition.
Legal principles established
#- A party with a demonstrated stake in workplace governance may be joined to a petition as an interested party
- A prima facie case on the conformity of a public recruitment process with constitutional tenets warrants interim injunctive relief
Court orders
#- 1.Pending hearing and determination of the Petitioner's application inter partes, the Respondents are barred from conducting interviews for the position of Managing Director, KPA
- 2.The Dock Workers Union is joined to the Petition as an Interested Party
- 3.The application to be determined through written submissions filed and exchanged electronically on or before 16th June 2020
- 4.Parties may file and exchange answers to the substantive Petition and skeleton submissions within the same period
- 5.The Deputy Registrar to communicate other directions as necessary
- 6.Mention on 17th June 2020
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Jurisdiction not expressly cited in the orders; matter transferred from the High Court Mombasa to the Employment and Labour Relations Court
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Commission for Human Rights & Justice v Board of Directors-Kenya Ports Authority & 2 others; Dock Workers Union (Intended Interested Party) (Petition 4 of 2020) [2020] KEELRC 970 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2020). Petition Number 4 of 2020 [Formerly Mombasa High Court Petition Number 29 of 2020]. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2020/970/eng@2020-06-02
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.