The High Court has temporarily suspended the nomination process for members of the Engineers Board of Kenya following a legal challenge over the legality of the process initiated by the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK).
Justice Gregory Mutai issued conservatory orders barring the IEK from implementing, continuing or completing the nomination exercise commenced through an Expression of Interest issued on August 25, 2026.
The judge also prohibited the IEK, its officers, Council, committees, agents and representatives from shortlisting, selecting, nominating or forwarding any names to the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport arising from the contested process.
The Cabinet Secretary has similarly been restrained from acting on, approving, appointing or gazetting any person nominated through the disputed process pending the hearing and determination of the application between the parties.
The orders followed an application by petitioner Francis Awino, whose Notice of Motion was certified as urgent by Justice Mutai and allowed to be heard during the ongoing court vacation.
Awino has been directed to serve the application on the respondents and interested party within seven days. The respondents will then have 14 days to file their responses.
The application will be heard inter partes on October 26, 2026, before Justice Aburili.
In his application, Awino has questioned whether the nomination process was lawfully initiated after the newly elected IEK Council assumed office on August 19, 2026.
He claims that, to his knowledge, the new Council had not convened or passed a resolution authorising the commencement of the process before the IEK issued the Expression of Interest on August 25.
The petitioner wants the court to determine whether the organ that initiated the process had the requisite authority under the IEK Constitution and the Engineers Act.
The Expression of Interest gave interested candidates until August 28 to submit their names.
Awino argues that the short period created a real risk that the process would proceed to shortlisting, selection and nomination before the court could intervene and determine whether it had been lawfully commenced.
He has also raised concerns over an earlier list of nominees submitted by the IEK to the relevant respondent on November 19, 2025, whose status he says remains unresolved.
According to Awino, initiating another nomination exercise before the fate of the earlier list is determined could result in competing nominations and appointments to the Engineers Board.
He has therefore asked the court to preserve the subject matter of the petition until the legality of the latest process is determined.
Awino maintains that appointments to the statutory regulatory body must comply with the Constitution and the law, arguing that the dispute raises issues of public interest and proper governance of the engineering profession.
The conservatory orders issued by Justice Mutai will remain in force pending the inter partes hearing scheduled for October 26.
