Murang'a County has won a temporary reprieve in a Sh400 million court battle over ECDE teachers' pay after the Court of Appeal froze a judgment ordering salary adjustments and back pay.
The judges stopped enforcement of a May 2025 Labour Court judgment compelling Governor Irungu Kang’ata- led county government to align ECDE teachers' monthly pay with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) advisory rates and settle accrued arrears.
The ruling also shields county officials from looming contempt proceedings. It also suspends implementation of a decision that could influence how counties handle SRC salary advisories when budgets are strained.
A three-judge bench ordered that the status quo be maintained pending the hearing of Murang'a county’s application for stay and its appeal against the Labour Court judgment.
"Accordingly, we direct that the status quo as at today's date shall be maintained pending hearing of the application," the judges ordered.
The ruling effectively froze all consequential enforcement processes initiated by the ECDE teachers’ union and pauses an application seeking to jail county officials for alleged contempt.
The dispute pits Murang'a County against the Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), which moved to court claiming the county had ignored SRC's August 10, 2023 advisory on remuneration for county employees. The advospry directed that ECDE teachers be placed within the remuneration structure for county employees, including allowances and job groups.
Kuppet argued that Murang'a had continued paying ECDE teachers’ salaries below the levels advised by SRC, thereby breaching their constitutional rights to fair remuneration and equal treatment.
The union sought orders compelling the Murang'a County Public Service Board to adjust salaries and pay arrears from July 1, 2023.
In its judgment dated May 22, 2025, the Employment and Labour Relations Court agreed with the union.
It found that SRC's advice on remuneration of public officers was mandatory and binding and held that Murang'a had breached ECDE teachers' right to fair remuneration by failing to implement the salary structure.
"There is no denial that the second respondent has failed to implement the SRC advice on its ECDE teachers," the judge said.
"As a result, the ECDE teachers continue to receive a special salary that is below the amounts advised by the SRC."
The court ordered the county government to pay ECDE teachers salaries and allowances as advised by SRC, with effect from July 1, 2023, or from the date of appointment for teachers hired later.
Murang'a County did not challenge the principle behind improved remuneration. Instead, it argued that immediate implementation carried severe financial implications.
According to the county government’s advocates, complying with the judgment would require an additional allocation of approximately Sh400 million to cater for more than 1,000 ECDE teachers currently employed under existing contractual terms.
The county further argued that its wage bill had already risen to 52 per cent of total revenue, well above the 35 per cent ceiling prescribed under the Public Finance Management framework governing counties.
The advocates maintained that enforcing the judgment before determination of the appeal would expose the county and its officials to substantial prejudice.
Governor Irungu Kang'ata personally attended proceedings before the Court of Appeal alongside lawyers Charles Njenga, James Thuku and Munyua Ngonyo to press for interim protection.
They also informed the court that the county government had initiated structured engagements with teachers through their representatives and that discussions had yielded a compromise now at implementation stage.
Kuppet opposed the application. However, SRC and the Public Service Commission supported the county's request for preservation orders.
The appellate court's decision means ECDE teachers will continue serving under their existing contracts unless fresh agreements are negotiated and signed.
Beyond Murang'a, the appeal raises a wider question confronting devolved governments across the country on whether counties must immediately comply with SRC remuneration advisories even when they argue that doing so would breach statutory wage-bill limits and strain already stretched budgets.
At its core, the appeal tests whether statutory wage-bill ceilings can override immediate compliance with SRC-advised remuneration structures for county employees.
