The appointment of the next Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer has turned into a high-stakes game of “legal ping-pong,” leaving the leadership of Kenya’s teaching workforce in a state of suspended animation.
In February 2026, a High Court ruling in Nairobi abruptly halted the recruitment process—just seven days after an Employment and Labour Relations Court in Mombasa had cleared it. This conflicting judicial landscape is not just a procedural headache; it represents a fundamental clash over the constitutional boundaries of independent commissions.
In late January 2026, Justice Ocharo Kebira, sitting in Mombasa, delivered a victory for the TSC by dismissing a petition from Thomas Mosomi Oyugi. The judge ruled that the 13-year-old statutory requirement for the CEO to hold an education degree was presumed constitutional and that the recruitment process should proceed to ensure “continuity of leadership.”
However, the celebration at Upper Hill was short-lived. By early February, Simon Kariu Kimaita filed a fresh petition in Nairobi, securing a conservatory order that froze the process once again. This “forum shopping”—where litigants seek more favorable rulings in different courts—is precisely what the TSC has now reported to Chief Justice Martha Koome.
The TSC’s legal team, led by Cavin Anyuor, argues that the Nairobi case violates the principle of res judicata—a legal doctrine preventing the same parties from litigating the same issue twice. They contend that Kimaita’s petition is a “re-packaging” of Oyugi’s failed arguments regarding discrimination and unreasonable application windows.
For the TSC, the repeated halts are more than just a nuisance; they are an “acute institutional disruption” that prevents the commission from finalising the 2026–2027 recruitment cycle and formalising the employment of 20,000 interns.
Chief Justice Koome has directed that all parties appear on March 5, 2026, for a consolidated hearing. This date is widely viewed as the “final stand” for the recruitment process.
The judiciary must decide whether to uphold the Mombasa ruling and allow the Commission to name a successor to Nancy Macharia, or to entertain the Nairobi petition’s claim that the current laws are “exclusionary and unconstitutional.” Until then, the TSC remains a ship without a substantive captain, navigating the complex waters of the Grade 10 transition with only an interim navigator at the helm.
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TSC CEO recruitment lawsuit, Justice Ocharo Kebira ruling, Simon Kariu Kimaita petition, res judicata in Kenya courts, TSC leadership crisis 2026, Chief Justice Martha Koome intervention.
