- The High Court has reset the TSC CEO recruitment process, giving Eveleen Mitei and other qualified candidates a fresh opportunity to compete for the position.
- The ruling has exposed procedural shortcomings in the earlier recruitment exercise, including a shortened application window and non-disclosure of remuneration.
- Teachers have expressed mixed views on Mitei’s candidacy, with supporters citing her institutional experience while others call for open, merit-based competition.
The High Court has not handed Eveleen Mitei the TSC CEO position. It has reset the recruitment process, giving her and every other qualified candidate a fresh opportunity to compete for one of Kenya’s most consequential education leadership positions.
The legal anchor for that fresh competition is Section 16 of the Teachers Service Commission Act, which requires the appointment of the Commission’s Secretary/CEO to be made through a competitive recruitment process. The High Court has quashed the previous recruitment exercise and ordered TSC to re-advertise the position, meaning the earlier process and shortlist cannot simply determine the new appointment.
The September 17, 2026 ruling has significantly changed the trajectory of the contest. The court found procedural shortcomings in the earlier advertisement, including an application window of 13 days instead of the minimum 14 days required under TSC’s recruitment procedures, as well as a failure to disclose the proposed remuneration.
For Acting Secretary/CEO Eveleen Mitei, that development is particularly significant because her absence from the previous shortlist no longer determines her prospects. If she meets the statutory requirements and chooses to apply, she will have an opportunity to compete again. But this is a fresh opportunity, not an appointment. The court did not select Mitei, endorse her performance or give her preferential treatment. The same opportunity is available to every eligible candidate who meets the statutory requirements. That distinction matters because the new contest should be decided on qualifications, experience, leadership record and vision, rather than the outcome of a recruitment process that has now been nullified.
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Why Some Teachers Want Mitei to Compete
Sections of the teaching fraternity are viewing the development from another perspective. Some teachers want Mitei to enter the new contest, arguing that her experience as acting CEO has given her first-hand knowledge of the Commission’s operations and the challenges confronting teachers. Her supporters point to areas including administrative responsiveness, engagement with teachers and the handling of career and retirement-related concerns, seeing continuity of institutional experience as potentially valuable at a time when Kenya’s education sector is undergoing significant changes.
That support, however, should not be presented as universal. TSC serves a large and diverse teaching profession whose members have different experiences, expectations and priorities. Some teachers may favour continuity, while others may prefer a different leadership approach or a candidate offering a substantially different direction. That diversity is precisely what makes the fresh competition important: Mitei should have the opportunity to present her record and vision, while other qualified candidates should have the same opportunity to make their case.
Mitei’s experience inside TSC could give her an important perspective on the Commission’s administrative machinery, its regional structures and the practical challenges involved in implementing decisions affecting teachers. But experience alone cannot determine the appointment. A substantive CEO will have to demonstrate strategic leadership, institutional management, integrity and the capacity to respond to the changing demands of Kenya’s education system. For Mitei, the fresh recruitment provides an opportunity to explain what she has achieved during her acting tenure, what remains unfinished, and what she would do differently with a substantive mandate. Other candidates will have the same platform.
What Teachers Should Expect From the Next CEO
The debate should move beyond personalities. Teachers need a TSC that responds efficiently to promotion and deployment matters, communicates decisions clearly, improves retirement and pension administration, and resolves administrative complaints without unnecessary delays. They also expect meaningful engagement between the Commission and teacher representatives.
The next CEO will inherit an education system experiencing major changes under Competency-Based Education, alongside continuing debates over teacher deployment, Junior Secondary School staffing, professional development, remuneration and the growing administrative demands placed on schools. Those challenges require leadership capable of combining institutional stability with reform. For Mitei, that means explaining how her experience can translate into further improvements; for other candidates, it means presenting equally clear and credible programmes.
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Teacher support alone will not be enough. Mitei would need to demonstrate what a substantive mandate would mean in practical terms: whether she would accelerate promotion processing, improve retirement and pension administration, strengthen county-level service delivery, improve communication with teachers, deepen engagement with unions, and introduce further reforms while maintaining institutional stability. Those questions should form part of the scrutiny facing every candidate. Mitei has the particular advantage, and challenge, of having a recent record in the acting office. Her supporters can point to what they believe has changed, while other stakeholders can ask what remains to be done.
The High Court Reset the Race, Not the Outcome
The central message from the ruling is clear: the old recruitment process is out, the statutory competitive process remains, and the field must now be reopened. For Mitei’s supporters, this is a fresh shot. For other candidates, it is a clean slate. For TSC, it is an opportunity to conduct a recruitment process that fully complies with the law and its own procedures. And for teachers, it is another opportunity to demand leadership capable of combining continuity, accountability and dynamic change.
Mitei should neither be treated as the automatic choice nor dismissed because she was absent from the previous shortlist. She should be judged through the same lawful competition as everyone else. The court has reopened the door. What happens next should be determined by qualifications, experience, record, vision and a transparent recruitment process.
By Hillary Muhalya
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