By Andrew Kariuki
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has suspended the recruitment of teachers for senior secondary schools in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and Lamu counties following a petition filed by three teachers currently serving in the region on contract.
The teachers told the court that they have been working in the volatile areas under contractual arrangements and had a legitimate expectation of being absorbed on permanent and pensionable terms.
In their case, the tutors argue that they are now being subjected to a fresh recruitment process for positions they have already been performing, a move they describe as discriminatory and unfair.
They contrasted their situation with that of teachers serving as interns in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS), who they say are being confirmed to permanent terms without being required to reapply for their positions.
The dispute arose after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) advertised the recruitment of teachers to fill 2,082 attrition vacancies in senior secondary schools in November 2025, including positions in the four counties.
The court’s decision temporarily halts the recruitment exercise in the affected regions pending the determination of the case.
