Court blocks bid to oust top Bomet official
Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi has stopped the removal of Bomet county secretary Evalyne Cherotich Rono from office.
Lady Justice Maureen Onyango issued the orders quashing the decision by Governor Hillary Barchok to terminate the services of Rono.
The judge granted the applicant leave to apply for judicial review of the matter and serve the respondents within 21 days.
Through her lawyers Dancan Kiprono and Denis Sang, Rono had moved to court to seek orders stopping Barchok from relieving her of her dutiest.
Barchok, the county government and Assembly of Bomet have been cited as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively in the suit which has been certified as urgent.
“My term of office was to serve as County Secretary to the County Government of Bomet until a new Executive Committee is constituted after the next General Election in 2022,” Rono stated in a sworn affidavit.
Rono was appointed county secretary by former Bomet Governor the late Joyce Laboso on October 23, 2017.
The applicant said she was shocked to receive a letter from Barchok terminating her employment and subsequently releasing her to her previous employer.
The applicant has also applied for stay orders stopping the recruitment of a new County Secretary until the matter was heard and determined.
Seek clarification
“The letter did not disclosed the reasons for my release from work and efforts to seek clarification from the governor have been futile,” the applicant said.
Barchok wrote a letter to Rono dated April 1, 2020 informing her of his decision to terminate her secondment to the County Government of Bomet as County Secretary.
But yesterday in a turn of events Barchok oversaw the swearing-in ceremony of a new County Secretary Stella Chepkoech Langat in disregard of the court orders.
Lawyer Kiprono has accused the governor of disobeying court orders stopping the swearing-in of a new county secretary.
Kiprono said they would move to court to institute contempt of court proceedings against Barchok for disobeying the orders by overseeing and authorising the swearing-in ceremony of Langat.
