The High Court has blocked 50 newly appointed Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) from assuming office pending the determination of a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Katiba institute.
In his ruling, Justice Hedwig Ongudi barred the CASs from earning any salary, remuneration, or benefit until the case is closed.
Ongundi also ordered LSK to serve interested parties with the petition. The case will be heard on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at 12 noon.
The CASs were sworn in on Thursday, March 23 after the National Assembly failed to vet them citing a lack of constitutional Authority.
LSK and Katiba institute had moved to court through lawyer Dan Okemwa to sue the President and Head of Public Service over the creation of 27 more CAS positions.
“At the time of their application, only 23 vacancies lawfully existed. Through the unilateral decision by PSC to unconstitutionally and unlawfully create an additional 27 positions, there exist serious doubts as to the legality and irregularity of their appointments,” Okemwa stated.
He also accused PSC of enabling the Head of State to establish additional positions, which is against the constitution.
“There is an eminent threat of infringement of the Constitution if the interested parties proceed to assume office,” he added.
By Ezra Nyakundi
Source-https://www.nairobileo.co.ke/
Night intrigues that paved way for hiring of 50 CASs
President William Ruto on Wednesday night moved with lightening speed to controversially appoint 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS), paving the way for their swearing-in at dawn yesterday.
The President’s night maneuvers were meant to shield the controversial hirings from being halted by the court.
Acting on intelligence that Justice Hedwig Ong’undi was likely to issue an order stopping the vetting of the CAS by 11am, thus essentially delaying the process further, State House put in motion a series of secretive events that eventually paved the way for the names of the nominees to be gazetted on Wednesday night.
Before sun-up yesterday, the 50 CASs were at State House, Nairobi, ready for their swearing-in, after which the President embarked on a three-day whirlwind tour of Migori, Kisii and Nyamira counties, where he is seeking to chip away at his rival’s Raila Odinga’s influence.
Returned the list
Indications of the unfolding drama surrounding the appointment and swearing-in of the CASs started to emerge late on Wednesday night when State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed issued a statement on social media platforms indicating that National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula had turned down President Ruto’s request for the House to vet the nominees.
According to Mohamed’s statement, Wetang’ula had returned the list to State House on grounds that there was no legal provision requiring Parliament to vet CAS nominees.
“As a consequence of referral by the Speaker of the National Assembly, which has found that there is no constitutional or statutory basis upon which the August House can vet the nominees, the Head of State and Government caused the appointment of nominees to various Ministries as earlier notified,” Mohamed said.
According to him, the Speaker’s memorandum noted that the obligation to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution enjoins the House to refrain from assuming and discharging roles that have not been expressly assigned to it either by the Constitution or any written law.
It was telling that details of the letter from the Speaker emanated from State House rather than from Parliament. Within minutes of Wetang’ula’s decision being made public, the Government Printer published a special Kenya Gazette notice, through which the President formalised the appointment of nominees. Copies of the notice started circulating on Whatsapp groups way past midnight.
And in what was clearly a rush against time, invites were sent to the 50 nominees, asking them to be seated at the Nairobi State House by 5.30 am in readiness for the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by the Chief Justice Martha Koome.
By the time Justice Ong’undi of Constitutional and Human Rights Division was sitting at Milimani law courts at 11am to make a ruling on a petition filed by a Kenyan citizen residing in the United Kingdom, the swearing-in ceremony was long over. “From what transpired on Wednesday evening and this morning (Thursday), it is clear that the notice of motion by the petitioner is overtaken by events,” Justice Ong’undi ruled as he turned down Eliud Karanja Matindi’s plea to stop the swearing in.
Matindi had wanted to quash President Ruto’s decision to create an additional 27 Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) positions, up from the 23 that PSC had recommended.
“Nominating 50 persons for appointment to the office of CAS, when only 23 vacancies were proposed by the PSC to be advertised and recruited, is untenable by all accounts,” Matindi had said in his petition, which could not be prosecuted after the fact.
“The PSC had proposed, and the President accepted, creation of 23 positions of the office of CAS. The recruitment process carried out by the PSC to recruit persons to the newly-created office was on the basis of there being 23 vacant positions,” Matindi had said in his court papers. He further accused PSC of failure to discharge its constitutional mandate, including its duties under Articles 10, 232, 234 and 249 of the Constitution, by facilitating and superintending over the creation of the additional 27 positions.
Sources told People Daily that the President did not want the recruitment, which has been pending since October, delayed again and had to move with speed to avoid being held back by a court ruling.
Source-https://www.pd.co.ke/
High Court Blocks 50 Newly Appointed CAS From Assuming Office
