Court quashes appointment of Nehemiah Ng’etich as NBA boss

By Newsflash Writer

The Labour Relations Court has quashed the appointment of Mr Nehemiah Ngetich as Acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and ordered the agency to recruit a new boss within 15 days.

Justice Byram Ongaya declared Mr Ngetich’s appointment unconstitutional, illegal and void ab initio.

“The order hereby issued directs the 1st respondent to commence forthwith, within not more than 15 days from today, a fresh, open, transparent and merit-based appointment process for the office of Chief Executive Officer, in accordance with the law and in strict compliance with the relevant applicable constitutional and statutory provisions,” ruled Justice Ongaya.

The judgment was delivered on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, in Nairobi.

Court orders fresh recruitment

The case was filed by William Otieno Onyango on July 15, 2025, through Wambugu Law Advocates.

The petitioner sought several orders, including a declaration that the appointment of Mr Ngetich as Acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Authority was unconstitutional, illegal and void ab initio.

He also sought a declaration that the NBA Board of Directors chairperson, Prof Jenesio Kinyamario, acted in conflict of interest and breached his fiduciary duty in appointing Mr Ngetich to the position.

The petitioner questioned the sustained appointment of Mr Ngetich, arguing that he was demonstrably unqualified to hold the office of CEO of a critical regulatory body and that the appointment constituted a deliberate and egregious breach of Article 10 of the Constitution.

Qualifications and legal breaches

Mr Ngetich has served as Acting CEO since July 5, 2024, following the suspension of former Chief Executive Officer Dr Roya Mugira. The petitioner argued that Mr Ngetich had served an aggregate of 12.5 years and had been Head of Directorate for a period of one year. The acting appointment was first renewed on January 30, 2025, and a second time in July 2025.

“Throughout the acting appointments as CEO, Mr Ngetich did not have the requisite 15 years’ relevant experience, of which five years must be in senior management, as prescribed in the Public Service Commission (PSC) career guidelines,” the petitioner argued.

He further stated that Sections 34(2) and (3) of the Public Service Commission Act, 2017, were breached. The provisions state that a person shall not be appointed to hold a public office in an acting capacity unless the person satisfies all the prescribed qualifications for holding the public office, and that an officer may be appointed in an acting capacity for a period of at least 30 days but not exceeding six months.

In its determination, the court held that the government is a constitutional and statutory employer, not a mere player in the labour market.

The court noted that public or state officers and bodies vested with human resource powers and functions in the public and state services exercise and discharge their mandate on behalf of the sovereign—the people—as declared in Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.

It emphasised that such powers and functions must be exercised with utmost fairness, dignity, integrity, rationality and reasonableness in decision-making, as well as in government employment and labour relations practices.