Blow To Ruto As Court Stops Vetting Of PS Nominees

The vetting of Principal Secretaries (PS) by the National Assembly after they were nominated by President William Ruto has been suspended by the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC).

Justice Nzioki Makau issued the orders on Tuesday, November 15 suspending the vetting exercise pending the hearing and determination of the application set for Monday, November 21.

"That pending hearing of this application inter partes on 21st November 2022 a conservatory order do and is hereby issued restraining and/or barring the Respondents from receiving or if already received the list of nominees, barring the processing, vetting, or in any way proceeding or processing the nomination for appointment and/or appointing the 1st to 51s5 Interested Parties herein as Principal Secretaries as communicated vide a Press Release dated 2nd November 2022," read part of the restraining orders issued by Justice Nzioki.

The petition filed by activist Fredrick Bikeri alleged that the selection of 51 persons by President Ruto for vetting and approval by parliament as PSs lacked inclusivity and regional balance.

“The said list of persons appointed to the rank of Principal Secretaries does not reflect nor ensure gender balance, regional balance, tribal balance, inclusivity of the marginalized, contrary to the tenets of good governance as demanded by Articles 10, 54, 55, 56 and 57 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010,” states the certificate of urgency filed by Bikeri.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) also challenged the list of nominees, with its President, Eric Theuri, initially announcing that he contracted a team of lawyers to look into Ruto's nomination of 51 PSs on grounds of gender and regional inclusion.

“On the impugned list of 51, 13 are Kalenjin from Rift Valley, 13 from Central Kenya which is to the detriment of the other 40 tribes and communities in Kenya,” court documents indicated.

In the list, 12 women made the cut, making up 23.5 per cent of the nominees. The PS is one of the state's key top public servants, helping Cabinet Secretaries in delivering government services to Kenyans.

One of the women, Caroline Nyawira, withdrew her candidature for the Principal Secretary for the State Department of Correctional Services. President Ruto replaced her with Mary Muthoni in the capacity, adding that the decision to have Nyawira replaced was informed by her expression of disinterest in participating in the process.

"The President has nominated Miss Mary Muthoni Muriuki for appointment as PS for the state department of correctional services. He indicates that Caroline Nyawira Murage withdrew her candidature for this position.

"The president seeks approval for this nominee by NA for appointment and requests that her approval is undertaken on a priority basis," National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula stated on Thursday, November 10.

Prior to the suspension, the National Assembly kicked off the vetting of the 51 PS nominees on Monday, November 14 and was set to conclude on Friday.

Among those vetted so far included Chris Kiptoo: Treasury PS Nominee, Dr Julius Korir: Cabinet Affairs Nominee, Raymond Omollo: Principal Secretary nominee for Interior, James Muhati: Economic Planning PS Nominee, Amb. Julius Bitok: Citizen Services Nominee, and Peter Tum: Medical Services PS Nominee.

From left: PS nominees Nixon Korir, Teresia Mbaika, Raymond Omollo, and Julius Bitok. /DAILY NATION