Kakamega government has started to replace members of the county public service board who were impeached in December 2023.
Governor Fernandes Barasa placed an advertisement in the local dailies on Thursday calling for applications for the positions of board chairman and three members.
Applicants have until February 26 to express their interests to the selection panel.
Chairperson Catherine Omweno and members Ralph Wangatiah, Stanley Were and Joel Omukoko were impeached by the county assembly following a petition filed by Kakamega UDA chairman Dennis Muhanda on December 15, 2023.
The Court of Appeal justices Hannah Okwengu, Hellen Omondi and Joel Ngugi on February 7 quashed a ruling by the Kakamega Employment and Labour Relations Court, which reinstated the four.
The judges said the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the petition.
“The bottom line is that we find the issues raised in the petition that was before the ELRC were constitutional in nature and the ELRC did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine them,” they said.
“Consequently, we allow the three appeals to the extent that the ELRC did not have jurisdiction. The judgment of the ELRC dated June 6, last year is set aside and substituted with an order dismissing Kakamega ELRC Petition No. EO08 of 2023.”
The board’s operations have been paralysed for more than a year now following protracted court battles.
Some of the affected operations include hiring and promotion of staff. The executive approved a memorandum of continuity of services by the board on August 13 last year to try and unlock the freeze.
The memo directed the two members of the board and the CEO to sit and make recommendations and matters that require full board approval, should be submitted to the county executive committee.
Omweno, Wangatia, Were and Omukoko were impeached on grounds of serious violations of the constitution and breach of statute law, gross misconduct, abuse of office and incompetence.
They successfully petitioned their removal at the Kakamega Court on grounds that the law was not followed in the removal process.
The court reinstated them and awarded them Sh1 million each in damages.
The county assembly and the county government appealed the court’s
verdict on grounds that the ELRC
lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition.
