Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) workers will go back to the polls on August 13 this year after the Employment and Labour Relations Court nullified the elections held on April 4 this year, terming the exercise a sham.
The Dockworkers' Union (DWU) national executive committee said it called for the fresh polls following the court orders for members to return to the polls within 60 days after the judgement.
The polls have been called amid sharp divisions among the 6000 members, with one camp supporting former general secretary Simon Sang and another allied to acting secretary Sulman Otieno Owour.
In a circular dated June 30 this year, DWU national chairman Mr Mohamed Mwasera said the duly recognised election board will conduct the polls in accordance with the court order, the union constitution and applicable laws.
“All eligible members are encouraged to participate peacefully and responsibly in this important democratic exercise,” Mwasera said, adding that the election board will release the programme in due course.
The union chief shop steward, Mr Justine Angore, called for unity among the dockers as they head to the fresh polls, saying they have been given a second chance after the court rejected the April polls.
“I am appealing to union members to remain united, observe the campaign period and vote peacefully,” he said.
In the disputed April 4 polls, Owour was the election general secretary, Kibibi Omery national treasurer and Amin Iloti national chairman.
In February this year, a court ousted long-serving DWU general secretary Mr Sang and paved the way for Mr Owour, who became acting general secretary, who in turn called for the controversial polls that were nullified by the court.
The court nullified the controversial April 4, 2026, elections of the 6000-member union, describing the process as a sham.
The court sitting in Mombasa said the process violated the union’s constitution, democratic principles, and statutory requirements.
In a landmark judgement delivered on Wednesday, Justice Ocharo Kebira ordered fresh elections to be conducted within 60 days and cancelled the registration of officials who had been declared elected through the disputed process.
“The purported election of 4th April 2026 was a sham, null and void. It is hereby nullified,” the judge declared.
The decision came as a major setback to Owuor and other officials whose election had been challenged by union members, including employees of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), who argued that the poll was conducted secretly.
They said the process was done without proper notice and outside the framework established by the DWU constitution.
The court also directed that the election board that existed before the disputed elections oversee the fresh vote and ordered the Registrar of Trade Unions and Owuor to bear the costs of the petition.
At the centre of the dispute was whether the elections were lawfully moved from June 25, 2026, to April 4, 2026.
The union’s NEC had initially resolved to hold elections on June 25, following a directive from the Registrar of Trade Unions requiring national union elections to take place between April and June 2026.
However, Owuor maintained that the NEC later resolved during a March 11 meeting to bring the elections forward to April 4 and convene a special conference where the elections would be conducted.
The court found compelling evidence that the March 11 NEC meeting never proceeded and that no valid resolution was passed to alter the election date.
Several witnesses, including former union chairman Mr Juma Mohammed and union secretary Winfer Nyaboke, testified that the meeting aborted before any business could be transacted.
Nyaboke further stated that she was later asked to prepare minutes and attendance records for the meeting despite no proceedings having taken place.
The judge noted that WhatsApp messages presented to the court supported claims that attempts had been made to create records for a meeting that never occurred.
“With the foregoing in mind, this court is left with a single option, namely to conclude that no NEC meeting was held at which a resolution was passed to move the date of elections from 25th June 2026 to 4th April 2026,” Justice Kebira said.
Justice Kebira emphasised that trade union elections are not mere administrative exercises but democratic processes through which workers choose representatives entrusted with defending their rights and interests.
“Trade unions are democratic institutions. Their legitimacy derives not from the mere declaration of election results but from the integrity of the process that produces those results,” Justice Kebira noted.
