National Assembly suspends vetting of Principal Secretaries following a court order

The vetting of Principal Secretary nominees will take long after National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula suspended the exercise following a court order.

In a statement by Speaker Wetangula, he directed all chairs of interdepartmental committees to put on hold the vetting until a solution had been reached.

“It is therefore to all chairpersons of departmental committees all persons nominated for appointment as Principal Secretaries and the general public, that the vetting of persons nominated to serve as principal secretaries is hereby suspended until further notice,” part of the statement read.

For the committees that had kicked off with the process, Wetangula directed that they suspended activities relating to the vetting until given the way forward.

Kenyan parliament during a past session ece-auto-gen

The House Speaker however directed parliament’s legal team challenge the directive by the Labour RelationsCourt.

“I have directed our Litigation Counsel to move the concerned courts to set aside the ex-parte orders based on various legal grounds. Thereafter, the proceedings will resume subject to the directions of the Court,” said Speaker Wetangula.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) challenged the Public Service Commission (PSC) nominations arguing that the process failed to meet the threshold of gender balance and regional balance.

The Labour and Employment Relations Court granted conservatory measures- further delaying the full constitution of President Ruto's government.

President William Ruto during a past meeting in State House, Nairobi Pulse Live Kenya

Among notable names nominated for the principal secretary positions include former Lang'ata Member of Parliament Nixon Korir, Dr Belio Kipsang who also served under former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration and former Nairobi Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke.

Several departmental committees in Parliament had vetted Principal secretaries' nominees at the time of the issuance of the orders.