The recruitment process for the Vice-Chancellor position at Maseno University has been halted for now after the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi intervened, following a dispute over the exclusion of one of the applicants, Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, from the shortlist.
Justice Jacob Gakeri issued the orders on Tuesday, allowing the professor to move ahead with judicial review proceedings against the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the university. The court also ruled that the ongoing recruitment exercise should pause until the case is fully heard and determined.
“The court is satisfied that the Applicant has an arguable case in the first instance and the application for leave is merited,” Justice Gakeri ruled.
In the same decision, the court said the permission granted to file the case would also stop any further steps in the recruitment, including interviews and appointment of a Vice-Chancellor.
“The prayer that leave act as stay appears merited… in the interest of justice,” he added, effectively freezing the process.
Professor Abukutsa-Onyango went to court on an urgent basis, asking the court to cancel the entire recruitment process. She claims her application for the position was ignored even though she submitted it before the January 9, 2026 deadline.
Through her lawyer, she told the court that she applied for Vice-Chancellor roles at Maseno University, the University of Nairobi, and Kenyatta University. While the other two institutions confirmed receipt of her application, she says Maseno University did not acknowledge hers.
Her lawyer also said she had proof showing she submitted her application for the Maseno University post before the deadline, adding that her complaints to both the Public Service Commission and the Ombudsman did not receive timely responses.
However, the Public Service Commission, through its Chief Executive Officer Paul Famba, opposed her claims and said there was no record of her application.
“The evidence availed by the Applicant… was illegible and difficult to make any conclusion,” the commission said, further insisting that “there was no record of the application for Maseno University.”
The commission also told the court that the recruitment exercise had already been completed, arguing that the case had come too late to stop the process. Even so, the court noted that key questions around the handling of her application still needed to be addressed.
The matter will now proceed to a full hearing where the court will determine whether the recruitment process was lawful.