Court nullifies Kuppet Kiambu elections over irregularities
Court nullifies Kuppet Kiambu elections over irregularities.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has nullified the January elections of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) in Kiambu, ruling that the polls held in January were irregular.
The court ordered fresh elections and quashed the registration of officials elected on January 10, 2026, which took effect on January 15.
The decision followed a petition by two teachers, John Thiuku Mbugua and Teresia Wajiru Kiguru, who contested the outcome of the elections held at Kolping College, Kilimambogo, in Kiambu County.
The petitioners had been nominated for the positions of executive secretary and organising secretary, respectively.
In its ruling, the court noted that some witnesses confirmed receiving 13 ballot papers but did not vote for all the positions, raising questions about the accountability of unused ballots.
“For example, someone may have voted only for the position of executive secretary and not any other office,” said the judge.
The court added that retaining the officials and proceeding with another election without addressing the irregularities would be unfair to the petitioners and other affected union members.
“For objectivity, and as outlined above, the elections held on 10 January 2026 for Kiambu Branch were irregular; listing these persons as officials and proceeding to organise a fresh election would be a great injustice to the petitioners and all members affected by the irregularities,” the court ruled.
The petitioners argued that the exercise was marred by delayed polling, inadequate voter verification, and participation of ineligible voters, multiple ballot papers issued to some voters, opaque tallying and security lapses.
They said polling began at about 11am instead of the stipulated 6am, without a lawful explanation. Voter verification was conducted briefly between 11am and 11.25am before being abandoned, forcing officials to rely on queues to facilitate voting.
They further alleged that people missing from the official voter register were manually added and allowed to vote, including agency fee payers who were ineligible to participate.
The teachers said there was congestion and multiple entry points into the polling room also allegedly enabled some teachers to vote more than once, as identification checks were reduced to the production of payslips.
About 2,500 teachers participated in the election, with each voter receiving 13 ballot papers for the various positions.
The petitioners said they complained to the Registrar of Trade Unions in a letter dated January 13, 2026, citing the irregularities. They maintained that the response acknowledged that voting started and ended late, verification was inconsistent and some voters received up to 20 ballot papers.
Despite the complaints, the Registrar proceeded to register the elected officials, prompting the court challenge.
The teachers argued that the exercise violated constitutional provisions on freedom of association, fair labour practices, fair administrative action, transparency and accountability. They also cited breaches of the Kuppet constitution and the union's election regulations.
However, Acting Registrar of Trade Unions Ann Kanake opposed the petition, saying the elections complied with the law and had been registered.
Ms Kanake told the court that the Labour Officer who presided over the exercise had filed a report confirming compliance with the union constitution and the Labour Relations Act.
She said her letter dated January 13, 2026, addressed the complaints and gave the elections a clean bill of health. She maintained that the exercise was peaceful, security was sufficient and any breaches were addressed without compromising the elections.
Kuppet and the 13 elected officials also opposed the petition, arguing that nullifying the results would be disproportionate because the elections had been concluded, results declared and Form Q submitted for registration.
The court nevertheless found the petition merited and directed the Kiambu branch to revert to the position that existed before January 10, 2026, pending fresh elections and the lawful registration of new officials.
“On the whole, the Court is persuaded that the Petition is merited, in that the outcome of the KUPPET Kiambu Branch elections held on 10 January was not conducted in a transparent, fair, and accountable manner,” the court said.
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