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Omtatah wants Uhuru decision on establishment of NMS invalidated

Friday, August 7th, 2020 00:00 | By
Activist Okiya Omtatah. PHOTO/Courtesy
Activist Okiya Omtatah. PHOTO/Courtesy

Activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court seeking orders to quash the establishment of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) as a department under the Executive office of the President.

 Omtatah wants the High Court to declare President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Executive Order No. 1 of 2020 unconstitutional for allegedly creating the NMS without following the law. 

The case filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court comes just days after Justice Makau declared sections of the Executive Order illegal for purporting to place the Judiciary, independent commissions and offices under different ministries.

 In Omtatah’s case filed on Tuesday, the activist accuses the Head of State of violating the law by creating NMS without consulting the Public Service Commission (PSC). 

He argues that NMS was not created as a State Corporation by an Act of Parliament and there is no evidence that the Nairobi County Government was consulted or public participation was done. 

“Although the law allows the President to create an office in the Public Service, that had to be done in consultation with the PSC,” Omtatah states in court papers. 

The activist has listed the Attorney General and PSC as respondents while NMS, Nairobi County government and Governor Mike Sonko as interested parties.

Illegal entity 

Omtatah had early sued to declare NMS an illegal entity and now believes that President Uhuru aimed to pre-empt the outcome of his earlier case. 

 “By purporting to decide on an ongoing matter in a competent court of law, revised Executive Order No. 1 of 2020 was intended to pre-empt the court’s decision or an arm of government to unlawfully influence the courts decision,” he adds

Omtatah says that in his early case, Justice Hellen Wasilwa on June 18, declared NMS illegal but gave the State an opportunity to regularise the entity. 

This he says, has not been done, and thus wants the High Court to quash the Executive Order and declare that the document is not the legal instrument anticipated in law for establishing offices in the Public Service.

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