Court halts engineers' Special General Meeting resolutions until case hearing

Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued interim conservatory orders after considering an urgent application filed by engineer Sam Aberi Okemwa, who is contesting actions taken during the meeting and their impact on an ongoing constitutional petition.

The court granted temporary orders staying and quashing the proceedings and resolutions of the SGM and restrained the respondents, interested parties, their agents and officials from implementing or acting on any resolutions passed during the meeting until the matter is heard inter partes.

The petitioner was directed to immediately serve all parties with the application and relevant documents and file an affidavit of service by June 5, 2026.

Justice Mwamuye further directed that the application be placed before Justice Dorah Chepkwony, who is already handling the substantive petition and is expected to deliver a decision in the matter. The case will be mentioned before Justice Chepkwony on June 10, 2026, for further directions.

In his application, Okemwa argues that the SGM was convened and conducted in violation of conservatory orders issued by Justice Chepkwony on March 13, 2026, which suspended IEK elections scheduled for March 23 pending the determination of a constitutional petition.

The petition challenges several provisions of the IEK Constitution 2015, including clauses that allegedly exclude graduate engineers from voting, representation on the council and participation in the institution's governance structures.

According to the petitioner, graduate engineers constitute approximately 54 percent of IEK's membership.

Okemwa contends that despite the existence of the court orders, IEK proceeded with the May 21 SGM and discussed matters touching directly on leadership succession and governance issues that are already before the court.

He argues that a resolution passed during the meeting seeking to communicate an agreed leadership transition plan to the Registrar of Societies and the courts amounted to an attempt to circumvent judicial proceedings and undermine the authority of the court.

The petitioner further seeks orders nullifying all resolutions, decisions and outcomes arising from the SGM, maintaining that implementation of the resolutions would create a fait accompli and render the pending petition meaningless.

He is also seeking orders setting aside a letter issued by the Registrar of Societies that allegedly recognized or validated the outcomes of the SGM, arguing that the registrar acted beyond the powers granted under the Societies Act.

Additionally, the petitioner wants the court to order that the IEK Council that was in office before the March 13 ruling remain in office pending the determination of the constitutional petition.

The court's interim orders will remain in force pending further directions when the matter comes up before Justice Chepkwony on June 10, 2026.