The High Court in Nakuru was, on  Tuesday, 8 April 2025, forced to suspend further proceedings in the county bursaries case filed by Nakuru activist Laban Omusundi and Katiba Institute. This is after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) failed to return the case file to the Court to enable it to issue a pending ruling.

The Court had earlier informed the parties that JSC had, on 28 February 2025, written to the Court’s Deputy Registrar (DR) asking for the file to be sent to it. The Court indicated that the letter did not provide any reasons or context for the request. The Deputy Registrar, an employee of the Commission, nevertheless complied and forwarded the file as requested. 

The issue first arose on 06 March 2025 when the parties appeared in Court expecting to be given the pending ruling. The Court informed them that it was handicapped and had not been able to write the ruling because it did not have the case file. The Court also found itself in a difficult position as it did not have a file on which to record the day’s proceedings.

After confirming that none of the parties to the case had an issue regarding the Court’s handling of the case, the Court indicated it would issue an order to the JSC to return the file. The Court postponed the ruling, which will have determined whether the temporary orders it had issued on 03 February 2025 would continue or be set aside. The orders had restrained the Controller of Budget from interfering with its own Circular to counties, stopping them from issuing bursaries to support primary and post-primary education. These, the Controller of Budget held, were not functions of counties under the Constitution.

However, despite the order issued to the JSC to return the file, when the parties appeared in Court on 04 April 2025, the court informed them that the JSC was still withholding the file. This position remained unchanged when the Court convened again on Tuesday for a mention of the matter.

On the Petitioners’ request, the Court suspended further proceedings until the JSC returns the file. The Court also advised the parties that they were at liberty to file contempt proceedings against the JSC for failing to comply with the order to return the file.

Laban Omusundi and Katiba Institute, through their lawyer, wrote to the JSC on Monday, 07 April 2025, to request the reasons why the Commission had requested and was withholding the file. They indicated that this was preventing the Court from exercising its judicial function and had the potential to affect their rights. The JSC has yet to respond to this letter.

Besides the suspension of further proceedings, the Court also clarified that the temporary order (number 9) it had issued specifically applied to new bursaries. The order had restrained Nakuru and Murang’a counties, who are sued in the Petition, from continuing to issue new bursaries that would extend beyond this financial year. The Petitioners had argued that issuing long-term bursaries while the case was still being heard stood to undermine any orders that the Court may eventually give.

The Court will issue the delayed ruling on 24 April 2025 if the JSC will have returned the case file.