Boniface Mwangi Blasts Ruto For Ignoring First Court Order As President

Human rights activist, Boniface Mwangi, has called out President William Ruto for reportedly ignoring his first court order as the Head of State.

Despite a court order freezing the creation of the Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) positions, the Public Service Commission (PSC) maintained that the recruitment process announced through a public advert was still ongoing and interviews would proceed as per the schedule.

PSC chief executive officer, Simon Rotich, insisted that the position was subjected to public participation in opposition to a lawsuit filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).

Rotich further encouraged interested persons to apply, giving them until Thursday, October 27 to submit their applications for consideration.

"Contrary to the public speculation, the commission has not cancelled the advert for the recruitment of Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS)," Rotich stated.

"The commission established the position in the public service after conducting public participation that closed on October 6, 2022. The public had been invited through a press advert to submit written memoranda to the commission indicating their views regarding the creation of the position."

Rotich added that the commission will shortlist and conduct interviews and, thereafter, recommend names of successful candidates to the President for appointment.

PSC, mandated to oversee the employment of civil servants, argued that the suit filed by the LSK did not meet the threshold to call off the CAS appointments.

Mwangi thereafter took to social media to accuse President Ruto of ignoring court orders in his first month of office, even though his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, had ignored a near-similar court directive issued on April 2021.

"Looks like Christian number 1 will not respect the courts. It’s going to be a chaotic, long five years if he continues like this. This impunity of disobeying court orders will lead to anarchy.

"It’s not even a month, and he is already breaking his oath of office. Obey the court William," Mwangi wrote.

LSK argued that the process was a waste of taxpayers' money and would lead to duplicate roles between the CASs and Principal Secretaries - who are 47 in total. The matter was set for a hearing on Monday, October 24.

In April 2021, High Court Judge Antony Mrima declared the position illegal noting that the law was not followed while being created. In addition, Cabinet Secretaries who continued to serve office without being vetted in 2017 were deemed to be in office illegally, directives Uhuru ignored.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta during a past address. /PSCU