The High Court has struck out a Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union petition challenging President William Ruto’s appointment of Faith Bett Boinett as Kenya Pipeline Company chairperson, holding that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Justice David Mburu ruled that employment-related grievances belong in the Employment and Labour Relations Court, while company-law disputes must be pursued under the Companies Act. The court did not decide the union’s allegations on the merits.
Conflict claims and board decisions
The union argued that Ms Boinett’s links to Fastnett Energy Ltd, which has a fuel storage and transportation agreement with KPC dating from 2018, created a conflict of interest. It also attacked board moves after KPC’s March 2026 initial public offering, in which the company raised Sh106.3 billion by selling 65 per cent of its shares while the State kept 35 per cent.
Among the orders sought were a suspension of Ms Boinett, a stop on dealings with Fastnett, a halt to managing-director recruitment, a freeze on major investments until Uganda’s government-appointed director joined the board, and a block on plans to downgrade the staff medical scheme.
President Ruto appointed Ms Boinett on December 19, 2025 for a three-year term. The union said the appointment skipped the competitive process required under the Government Owned Enterprises Act, which took effect on November 27, 2025, and that after KPC became a public limited company on April 22, 2026 the existing board was only a caretaker body.
Wrong forum, and time-barred
“The dispute falls within the jurisdiction contemplated under Article 162(2)(a) of the Constitution and Section 12 of the Employment and Labour Relations Court Act,” Justice Mburu said. He held that the High Court could not decide employment complaints the Constitution assigns to a specialised court.
The State also argued that any challenge to the December 19, 2025 gazette notice was barred by the six-month limitation under the Law Reform Act, because the petition was filed only on July 15, 2026. “The petitioner cannot circumvent the statutory limitation period by framing the challenge as a constitutional petition,” State advocates told the court.
Fastnett director Stephen Kipsang Boinett said in a replying affidavit that KPC’s amended Articles of Association do not bar a director from trading with the company, and that KPC is no longer a State corporation or reporting entity under the Conflict of Interest Act. The court upheld the respondents’ constitutional-avoidance objection, finding the union had used a constitutional petition where ordinary procedures already exist.
KPC’s shift from a fully State-owned pipeline operator to a listed company with a minority government stake has left several governance questions unsettled, including how legacy presidential appointments interact with the Government Owned Enterprises Act and the Companies Act. By declining jurisdiction rather than ruling on those questions, the High Court left the substantive fight — if the union chooses to relaunch it — for the Employment and Labour Relations Court and ordinary company-law procedures.
The union had also written to the Capital Markets Authority on May 15 and June 2 seeking investigations into board conduct, and to the Energy and Treasury Cabinet Secretaries, but said it received no substantive response before filing suit. Those regulatory routes remain open even after the constitutional petition was struck out.
Sources: Daily Nation | Business Daily
Photo: Rocky Mbithi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
