A bid to compel the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) to reinstate 12-month internship contracts for teachers has failed after the Employment and Labour Relations Court struck out a constitutional petition for lack of jurisdiction.
In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, Justice Jacob Gakeri ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The court further found that the issues raised had already been determined in previous litigation.
The petition had been filed by one Nehemiah Kipkorir, an intern teacher, seeking several declarations and constitutional remedies against the TSC over its internship programme.
Among the reliefs sought was a mandatory order compelling the commission to honour the original 12-month internship contracts.
Kipkorir also challenged the commission's decision to extend the internship period to 24 months, contending that the move was unlawful and violated his constitutional rights.
The petitioner also sought general damages for alleged violations of constitutional rights, alongside other declarations and orders against the commission.
However, before the court could consider the substantive issues raised in the petition, it was required to determine a preliminary objection filed by the TSC on May 20, 2026.
In the objection, the commission argued that the petition was an abuse of the court process, bad in law, misconceived and lacked merit.
It further contended that the court lacked jurisdiction because the issues raised had already been conclusively determined by another court.
The TSC also argued that there were pending proceedings before the Supreme Court in relation to the same.
Justice Gakeri noted that the preliminary objection challenged the court's jurisdiction and therefore had to be determined before any consideration of the merits of the petition.
"The court lacks jurisdiction to determine the petition as the facts and circumstances in the subject matter were fully heard and determined by a court of competent jurisdiction," the judge found.
In arriving at his decision, he examined previous litigation touching on the TSC internship programme, particularly the case of Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights versus Teacher Service Commission and others, decided in 2024.
During the case, the petitioners challenged TSC's recruitment of qualified teachers as interns, arguing that they should have been employed on permanent and pensionable terms rather than internship contracts.
The court found that the teachers were, in substance, employees and ruled that TSC had unlawfully disguised the employment relationship by classifying them as interns.
It declared the internship programme unconstitutional, holding that TSC lacked the legal mandate to recruit registered teachers as interns and that the arrangement violated their right to fair labour practices.
However, the court declined to compel TSC to offer permanent employment or award compensation.
The decision was later considered by the Court of Appeal, which upheld key findings of the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
The dispute is now pending before the Supreme Court, which suspended the appellate court's judgment pending determination of the appeal.
At the centre of the legal challenge are approximately 40,000 to 44,000 intern teachers whose employment status remains uncertain pending the apex court decision.
Justice Gakeri concluded that the issues raised in the present petition substantially overlapped with those that had already been adjudicated, thereby denying the Employment and Labour Relations Court jurisdiction to reopen the dispute.
"The upshot is that the respondent's (TSC) notice of preliminary objection has merit," the judge held.
He consequently struck out the petition dated December 2025.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) headquarters in Nairobi/FILE
