KUCCPS vs KMTC Court Ruling

KUCCPS vs KMTC Court Ruling: KUCCPS  Ordered to withdraw cases it filed against the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC)

An agency, KUCCPS  was ordered to withdraw cases it filed against the Kenya Medical Training College over its admission of over 3,000 students, a judge has been told.

The directive to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Services (KUCCPS) by Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua gives hope to the 3,721 students who had been sent home due to a September 9 court order barring them from attending classes, pending the outcome of a case between the agency and the college.

The lawyer for the college, Mr Benson Millimo, told Justice Weldon Korir that Mr Kinyua, on September 16, directed the agency not to pursue the case of the admission of the medical students since the educational institution is legally mandated “to admit students to its programmes under the KMTC Act”.

The students’ hopes had been dashed after Justice Joseph Onguto declined to quash orders he had given on September 9 stopping them from commencing training.

WASTING PUBLIC RESOURCES
Mr Millimo handed over to the judge a letter from Mr Kinyua to Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia and his Education counterpart Jacob Kaimenyi.

The students were supposed to report to the 42 campuses on September 15 but were restrained by the court.

Justice Korir was told that Mr Kinyua had noted with concern that the two public institutions were unnecessarily spending public funds in legal fees.

The letter to the two ministers says: “As a way forward and to avoid waste of public resources, KUCCPS should withdraw the case against KMTC since the matter is administrative and can be handled within the government.”

FOUND GUILTY

Mr Kinyua further directed the Attorney-General to offer legal advice to the two ministries and the functions of the agency and the college.

“KMTC has the legal mandate to admit students to its programmes while KUCCPS has a mandate to coordinate the placement of government- sponsored students in public universities,” Mr Kinyua says in the letter.

Mr Millimo said the college had appealed against the ruling by Justice Onguto.

Justice Korir heard that the agency and its lawyer, Prof Tom Ojienda, were found guilty of failing to disclose that they had filed a similar case in Nakuru, seeking the same orders to block the college from admitting students to its 42 campuses.