Court reinstates Isiolo County Assembly Clerk Salad Boru Guracha days after suspension
Justice Onesmus Makau ruled that the decision to remove him lacked due process and ordered a temporary injunction preserving his position pending further hearings.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nyeri has ordered the reinstatement of Isiolo County Assembly Clerk Salad Boru Guracha, days after he was suspended by the County Assembly Service Board in what he termed as an illegal and politically motivated ouster.
In a ruling on Thursday, Justice Onesmus Makau ruled that the decision to remove him lacked due process and ordered a temporary injunction preserving his position pending further hearings.
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Justice Makau certified Salad’s application as urgent and issued an interim injunction, blocking the Isiolo County Assembly and the County Assembly Service Board from appointing anyone else to the clerk’s office.
“The application is certified urgent, and an interim injunction is granted in terms of Order 2 in the motion pending inter-partes hearing,” Justice Makau ruled.
“The application is fixed for inter-partes virtual hearing on 25th June 2025.”
The court directed the respondents to be served with the application by close of business Thursday, with their responses to be filed on or before June 24.
Salad moved to court on June 17 seeking conservatory orders to protect his office after the Assembly Service Board sent him on compulsory leave through a letter dated June 16. In his application, he accused the Assembly of acting arbitrarily and violating Section 22 of the County Assembly Services Act, which outlines lawful grounds for suspending a county assembly clerk.
According to the Act, such a suspension can only occur in cases of inability to discharge duties, gross misconduct, incompetence, bankruptcy, or violation of the Constitution or the County Assembly Services Act.
Salad claimed his suspension was unilaterally executed by the Speaker, who chairs the Board, without a proper Board meeting or formal resolution. He supported his claim with an affidavit by Abdi Sora Balla, a sitting member of the Service Board, who stated that no such meeting was convened to approve the suspension.
“There was no meeting held, and no resolutions taken by the Service Board to suspend me from office,” Salad argued in court.
He further warned that unless the court intervened, the respondents might rush to fill the position, rendering the petition moot.
“There is real apprehension that in the interim, the respondents… may appoint a person into the office of the Clerk of County Assembly, Isiolo County,” he said in his supporting affidavit.
The suspension has been linked to the ongoing attempts to impeach Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo. On Tuesday, Salad cancelled public participation forums scheduled across Isiolo County following a High Court order halting the impeachment proceedings.
“Notice is hereby issued that the County Assembly of Isiolo, in compliance with the above court order, has cancelled the Public Participation exercise slated for 18th June, 2025, in various wards within Isiolo County,” he announced.
The High Court in Isiolo, presided over by Justice Heston Nyaga, had on June 17 issued a conservatory order stopping the impeachment process. The judge said the petitioner had made a compelling case and directed all respondents, including the Speaker and the Assembly, to be served by the end of that day.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this application inter-partes, a conservatory order is hereby issued restraining, barring, and preventing the respondents… from admitting, processing, debating, or considering the Notice of Motion dated 10th June, 2025, for the proposed removal from office of the Governor of Isiolo County by impeachment,” Justice Nyaga ruled.
Governor Guyo had filed the petition against the Assembly and the Speaker, citing procedural flaws. The court directed that he be furnished with a copy of the impeachment motion and its supporting documents within 48 hours of the order. The respondents have seven days to reply, after which Guyo has three days to file a supplementary affidavit.
The motion to impeach the governor was introduced by Sericho MCA Abubakar Godana and had garnered support from all 18 Members of the County Assembly. The legislators accused the governor of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and violation of the law.
However, the sessions intended to debate the motion failed to proceed due to chaos within the Assembly chambers. The Speaker, Mohamed Roba, had earlier mobilised public forums as part of the impeachment process.
The matter now awaits determination in both the Nyeri Employment and Labour Relations Court and the High Court in Isiolo.
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