The Employment and Labour Relations court has directed that the vetting exercise of Principal Secretaries nominated by President William Ruto to serve in various ministries be suspended.
This is after the court received two petitions challenging the nomination of the Principal Secretaries by Magare Gikenyi and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
LSK had urged the court to stop the vetting exercise on grounds that the nominees do not depict national representation including youth, persons with disability and gender balance.
30 of the 51 nominated Principal Secretaries come from Kalenjin and Kikuyu tribes.
The court granted conservatory orders temporarily staying the vetting process pending inter-parte hearings scheduled for 21st November 2022. The vetting exercise had begun on Monday the November 14, 2022 and had being going on for the second day, when the court issued the orders halting the process.
In a communication to the National Assembly, Speaker Moses Wetangula directed that, “Departmental committees which had already concluded the vetting proceedings and approval hearings are to suspend any activity relating to reporting to the House until further notice,”
The Speaker further directed Parliament’s legal counsel to move the concerned courts to set aside the ex-parte orders based on various legal grounds.
The President had submitted to the National Assembly names of 51 persons nominated for appointment as Principal Secretaries on 2nd November.
Thereafter, the Speaker referred the names to the various Department Committees which commenced their hearings on the 14th of November after giving the public 7 days to file their memoranda.