Ezekiel Owour Otieno is the new substantive Export Processing Zone (EPZ) Chief Executive officer, the Employment and Labour Relations Court has declared.
Justice James Rika made the declaration in a judgment rendered on Tuesday, February 28, after declining an attempt by EPZ Authority Board and Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria to overturn the court’s earlier decision that upheld Otieno’s appointment as the CEO.
The judge also ordered the Board Authority, the CS Trade and the Attorney General to fully comply with the court’s judgment dated July 29, 2022, that upheld Otieno as the legally appointed CEO of EPZA.
“The Trade Cabinet Secretary shall immediately, gazette the appointment of Otieno as the new substantive CEO of the authority,” the judge directed.
The decision of the court yesterday comes after the state agency has been nearly six years without a substantive CEO following several lawsuits.
While declining the request for review of a judgment, Justice Rika noted the agency board and the Trade CS did not place before him satisfactory reasons to warrant the court set aside its earlier decision that upheld Otieno’s appointment and revoked the reappointment of Henry Obino as the acting CEO of EPZ.
“The court can not undo its judgment, or undo the appointment of Ezekiel Owour Otieno as the CEO, of EPZ. The court was satisfied, as it is today, that the recruitment of Otieno as the CEO EPZ, was carried out in accordance with the law, ” Justice Rika ruled
The judge stated that Otieno was competitively recruited, and meritocracy in public service, under Article 232 of the constitution, demands that the job be given to him.
“This court does not see why Otieno should be denied the job, having applied for the job, shortlisted, interviewed and emerged at the top, ” Justice Rika ruled.
Further, the judge disputed the Trade CS arguments that there were anomalies in the recruitment of the CEO, noting that the Board which gave the recommendations to appoint Otieno as the CEO was quorate, with 12 to 13 members present and there is no compelling reasons tabled before the court to suggest any member was conflicted.
During the recruitment process, Otieno scored the highest by the Board, at 87.5 percent while his closest contenders Orumol Tajeu Johah Mzee and Mohammed Noor, scored 73.4 percent and 72.18 percent respectively.
The court observed that EPZA has been without a substantive CEO since 2018 which can be attributed to vested interests.
” The Board EPZA has not satisfied the requirements of rule 33 of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, 2016, in seeking to invoke the review jurisdiction of this court, ” Justice Rika noted.
Last year the court declared the appointment of Obino as the acting CEO of authority as invalid and that the CS Trade cannot overrule the board on the appointment of the CEO of the EPZA.
The decision was made after activist and now Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah challenged the decision by then CS Peter Munya dated August 2021 to re-appoint Henry Obino to the position of acting CEO of the authority for a period of three months. The same was later quashed by the court after finding that the CS erred in law in the appointment of Obino.
The agency board has struggled to recruit a CEO since former Cabinet Secretary Munya axed Fanuel Odede Kideda as the EPZA chief executive in September 2018 and named George Makateto to replace him.
The appointment was however stopped by the courts after Odeda sued against his dismissal.
Stephen Odua was then appointed CEO in an acting capacity and was replaced in 2021 by Henry Obino who also took over on a temporary basis before Omtatah filed the suit.
