The Employment and Labour Relations Court on Tuesday upheld the appointment of Ezekiel Owuor Otieno as the new substantive Export Processing Zone (EPZ) Authority Chief Executive Officer.

Justice James Rika rejected a bid by EPZ Authority’s Board and Trade and Industry CS Moses Kuria to overturn an earlier decision by the court to uphold Otieno’s appointment as CEO.

The judge also ordered the board, CS Kuria and Attorney General JB Muturi to fully comply with the court's ruling dated July 29, 2022 declaring Otieno the duly appointed CEO of EPZA.

“The Trade Cabinet Secretary shall immediately gazette the appointment of Otieno as the new substantive CEO of the authority,” Justice Rika ordered.

In rejecting the judgment review request, Rika noted the EPZ board and Kuria did not provide satisfactory reasons to warrant setting aside the earlier decision that upheld Otieno's employment and revoked the reappointment of Henry Obino as acting EPZA CEO.

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“The court cannot undo its judgment, or undo the appointment of Ezekiel Owuor Otieno as the CEO, EPZA. The court was satisfied, as it is today, that the recruitment of Otieno as the CEO EPZA, was carried out in accordance with the law,” rule Rika.


According to the judge, Otieno was recruited competitively, and meritocracy in public service, under Article 232 of the constitution, demands that he be given the position.

“This court does not see why Otieno should be denied the job, having applied for the job, shortlisted, interviewed and emerged at the top,” the judge added.

He dismissed Kuria’s argument of anomalies in the recruitment, saying the Board which proposed Otieno be appointed CEO was properly constituted, with 12 to 13 members present, and no compelling reason was provided to suggest any member was conflicted.


The Nairobi court further observed that EPZA had been operating without a substantive CEO from 2018 and the judge attributed this to vested interests in the CEO recruitment process.

“The EPZA Board 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,” the judge noted.