Human rights organisations led by VOCAL Africa have moved to court to challenge the recent recruitment exercise by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), claiming the process was unfair and failed to follow public service hiring procedures.
The petition, filed at the High Court in Mombasa on Thursday, argues that the recruitment process violated constitutional principles of fairness, transparency and equal opportunity.
According to the petitioners, concerns have been raised over how the hiring was conducted, with claims that merit and regional balance were not properly considered during the exercise.
Addressing the media immediately after filing the suit, VOCAL Africa CEO Hussein Khalid said his organization was seeking a judicial review of the recruitment process, compelling KPA to hold a new recruitment exercise.
“Without doubt, we believe that the process was totally unfair since it was not conducted following the set guidelines,” Khalid declared.
Apart from VOCAL Africa, the petition is also presented in joint effort with MUHURI and She Rises Organization, with KPA, Public Service Commission and Attorney General as respondents.
Some of the issues highlighted in the petition include a directive to nullify the recruitment process and a court order compelling KPA to embark on a new recruitment process in line with public service recruitment guidelines.
A few months ago, KPA started its recruitment exercise and offered 296 positions in different departments. Tens of thousands of people applied for the positions, reflecting the stiff competition in employment considering high levels of unemployment in Kenya.
The job opportunities included both technical and office posts like plumbers, welders, fitters, and carpenters.
Questions regarding the recruitment exercise have been brewing for months now particularly amongst youths in the Coast Region. Some of these youth groups raised concerns earlier this year about whether the selection of individuals was done fairly due to some technical difficulties encountered in the online application process.
The leaders in Mombasa also wanted clarity on the number of youths from their county who had succeeded in getting hired following claims that some had already gone for medical tests ahead of the conclusion of the interview process.
In previous interviews, the Managing Director of KPA, Mr William Ruto, had refuted the claims and reiterated that the recruitment exercise was done fairly through the online process where candidates were automatically short-listed depending on merit.
The high number of applications against the few job openings might have led to frustrations for those who did not make it.
