The Employment and Labour Relations Court has extended orders barring the removal from office of Abdullahi Jaldesa Bantica as the new Isiolo County Assembly speaker.
Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa on Thursday further allowed applications by interested parties to be enjoined in the case.
She also directed that respondents to the case – the Government Press, the State Law Office and the Isiolo County assembly clerk – to file their responses to preliminary objection and applications within 14 days.
The interested party was also given 14 days to file further affidavits and submissions, on the same days as the respondents.
“It is hereby ordered that the mention will be on September 22, 2025 to confirm compliance. The interim orders are extended,” reads in part the order by Justice Wasilwa.
The latest development comes days after the same judge had issued temporary orders stopping the removal from office of Mr Banticha.
The reprieve came at a time when the assembly is involved in political turf wars that have threatened to cripple the operations of the county assembly.
Justice Wasilwa issued the conservatory orders temporarily halting the removal of the recently gazetted Speaker.
The judge barred any attempts to degazette or remove Mr Banticha from office pending the hearing and determination of a petition he filed against the Government Press.
“In the interim, no action be taken removing or degazetting the applicant as the Speaker of the Respondent,” Ms Wasilwa ruled.
Mr Banticha had moved to court seeking protection after Isiolo County Assembly Clerk Salad Guracha revoked his recent appointment in a gazette notice published on Monday.
“It is notified for the general information of the public that the appointment of Abdullahi Jaldesa Guracha as the Speaker of the County Assembly Isiolo and Chairman of the Isiolo County Assembly Service Board is revoked with effect from July 14, 2025,” reads the notice.
In his petition, the speaker named the Government Press and the State Law Office as respondents.
Justice Wasilwa certified the petition as urgent and directed that it be served on all respondents ahead of an inter partes hearing scheduled for July 17, 2025.
Interestingly, Speaker Banticha was recently installed as speaker by Clerk Guracha, replacing Mohamed Koto, who had earlier presided over the contentious and ultimately unsuccessful impeachment motion against Governor Abdi Guyo.
The fallout from Governor Guyo’s impeachment attempt has left the assembly bitterly divided and polarised.
Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo claimed that Mr Banticha was allegedly elected speaker by just two MCAs.
“The Government Printer, a very sensitive department in this country, gazetted a speaker elected by only two members of the Assembly,” Ms Dullo said on the Senate floor.
The court's intervention now sheds further light on the escalating political crisis within the County Assembly, which now has two speakers and two clerks.
In the political carousel at the assembly, Speaker Koto had suspended Mr Guracha from office and appointed a temporary replacement.
However, Mr Guracha challenged his suspension in court and was reinstated, further complicating the leadership matrix in the assembly.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nyeri overturned the decision by Mr Koto and the Assembly Service Board to suspend the clerk.
Justice Onesmus Makau issued a temporary order halting the suspension, pending the determination of a petition filed by Guracha.
“An order be and is hereby granted, temporarily suspending the respondent’s decision to place the applicant on compulsory leave,” ruled Justice Makau.
Mr Gurcha was suspended on June 16, 2025, over allegations of financial impropriety, absenteeism, failure to submit monthly requisitions for April and May to the Controller of Budget, and poor coordination of management meetings.
However, in his petition, he challenged the legality of the move, accusing Speaker Koto and the Board—chaired by the Speaker—of acting unlawfully and maliciously.
