Court suspends operations of panel selected to recruit Baringo County Public Service Board
Counties
By
Daniel Chege
| Jul 10, 2026
The High Court in Nakuru, has suspended the operations of a selection panel in Baringo County, put in place to recruit, vet and appoint the County Public Service Board (PSB) members.
Judge Julius Nangea temporarily restrained the five-member panel from recruiting candidates for the county board chairperson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and members.
“The interested parties (panel) are barred from shortlisting, interviewing, evaluating, or recommending any candidates for the PSB positions, pursuant to the advertisement dated June 25, 2026,” ruled Nangea.
The judge also issued an interim order, suspending the operation and implementation of Gazette Notice dated June 19, 2026 pending the hearing and determination of a petition challenging it.
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The gazette notice published Baringo Benjamin Cheboi, appointed the five; Allan Kiplagat, Habiba Chebet, Enid Jepyegon, Luke Adoket and Kipkirui Kimosop as the panelists.
“The conservatory orders issued in terms of the two prayers will subsist until July 24, when the matter is slated for mention for further directions. The Deputy Registrar shall publish the full orders for compliance,” Nangea ruled.
He directed the applicant, Vincent Lopenyo, to serve the application and the orders immediately and granted the respondent seven days to respond.
The ruling followed Lopenyo’s application, through his lawyer Lineus Kamket. The Baringo resident sued Governor Cheboi, the county assembly, its Speaker, the Clerk and the Attorney General.
He challenged the legality of the selection panel, claiming its appointment was in contravention of Standing Order 48 of the County Assembly’s regulations.
Lopenyo deposed that the county had vacancies for the positions of Chairperson, CEO and Board Members, which required the establishment of an independent selection panel County Governments Act.
“On May 6, 2026, the County Assembly debated the names of the five, nominated for the panel and formally rejected the motion for their approval,” he argued.
However, he submitted that despite the rejection, the same Assembly and the Speaker allegedly irregularly reintroduced the exact names on June 17 and purported to pass the approval motion.
He maintained that the reintroduction directly violated the assembly’s standing orders, which bars the reconsideration of a rejected motion for at least six months, rendering the same a legal nullity.
Acting on the alleged invalid approval, the Governor is said to have published a Gazette Notice No. 8983, on June 19, formally appointing the panel.
“The unlawfully appointed panelist members have taken office and placed a public media advertisement on June 25, inviting applications to fill vacancies in the PSB,” he claimed.
According to Lopenyo, if the process is allowed to continue, public funds would allegedly be spent and wasted on a process built upon a structural nullity, causing direct financial loss to the taxpayers.
He further submitted that allowing an illegitimate panel to hire top-level county public servants would cause massive structural confusion and result in a flood of follow-up lawsuits.
The case will be mentioned on June 24, for further directions.