NAIROBI: An Employment and Labour Relations Court, sitting in Nairobi, has dealt a major blow to medical unions after dismissing a petition that challenged the non-renewal of fixed-term contracts for 15 clinical officers at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).

In a landmark judgment that reinforces employer rights in the healthcare sector, Justice Monica Mbaru ruled that fixed-term employment contracts do not carry an automatic entitlement to renewal, effectively extinguishing the union’s bid to force the referral hospital into reinstating the workers on permanent and pensionable terms.

The legal dispute traces back to a series of transition letters issued by the hospital management between October 2025 and April 2026, which formally notified the 15 medical workers that their employment would officially cease upon the natural expiration of their fixed-term agreements.

In response, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) aggressively moved to court, arguing that the hospital’s actions were unconstitutional, arbitrary, and a direct breach of Article 47 of the Constitution due to management’s failure to provide written reasons for the non-renewals.

Serious human resource shortage

The union further contended that the 650-bed Level 6 tertiary facility was already operating under critical staffing deficits that fell dangerously below World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, which mandate one officer per 10,000 people for outpatient care and three per 50 beds for inpatient services.

KUCO maintained that past consecutive renewals and the continuous demand for clinical care had created a legitimate expectation of continuous employment, while further accusing the hospital of structural discrimination for converting other medical cadres to permanent terms while intentionally phasing out clinical officers.

Defending its administrative actions, KUTRRH stated that the employment contracts were executed under clear guidelines authorized by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

The hospital clarified that the clinical officers were originally hired to serve at the Gatundu Level IV Hospital before being deployed to the referral facility under explicit, time-bound contracts that were fully accepted by the employees without any promises of automatic transitions.

In her final ruling, Justice Mbaru found major procedural errors in the union’s litigation, noting that KUCO had failed to obtain explicit authorization from its affected members to institute the suit and had bypassed statutory dispute channels by failing to secure a mandatory conciliation certificate.

Furthermore, the court clarified that without an active recognition agreement or a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in place, the union lacked the legal framework to negotiate individualized terms, leaving the hospital legally free to issue and enforce fixed-term contracts.

Justice Mbaru emphasized that there is no obligation on the part of an employer to give reasons to an employee why a fixed-term contract should not be renewed, equating such a demand to asking an employer to explain why a potential job applicant should not be hired.

Ruling that the union’s grievances were basic contractual disputes that should have been pursued through an ordinary memorandum of claim rather than disguised as a constitutional petition, the judge dismissed the case entirely.