Wetang’ula suspends vetting of PSs in line with court order
President William Ruto will have to wait longer to fully constitute his government after National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula yesterday stopped the vetting of Principal Secretaries nominees following a High Court ruling suspending the exercise.
Wetang’ula suspended the process, which kicked off on Monday, to allow a petition which is in court to be heard and determined.
He also directed committees that had so far concluded the vetting and were preparing to write their reports, to also suspend any activities relating to the exercise.
According to him, Article 3(1) of the Constitution places an obligation on the Speaker and the House to respect and uphold the Constitution in particular by abiding and upholding the rule of law.
“The vetting of persons nominated to serve as Principal Secretaries is hereby suspended forthwith until further notice. The departmental committees which had already concluded the vetting proceedings and approval hearings are to suspend any activity relating to reporting to the House on the proceedings until further notice,” said Wetang’ula.
He, however, disclosed that he had directed Parliament’s litigation counsel to move to the concerned courts to seek to set aside the orders, based on various legal grounds, in order to allow the vetting exercise to commence.
Already vetted
Already, 22 Principal Secretary nominees out of the 51 named by Ruto have been vetted.
Among those vetted are former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) director for ICT James Muhati, who has been nominated as PS Economic Planning, current Labour Principal Secretary Peter Tum, nominated as Medical services PS, and as former Laikipia West MP Patrick Mariro.
Others are Julius Korir (Cabinet Affairs), Raymond Omollo (Interior and National Administration), Aurella Rono (Parliamentary Affairs), Joseph Mburu (Health Standards and Professional Management), Philip Kello Harsame (Crop Development), Harry Kimutai (Livestock Development), Chris Kiptoo (National Treasury) and Esther Ngero (Performance and Delivery Management).
Those who were lined up to appear for vetting include Belio Kipsang (Basic Education), Esther Thaara (TVET), Caroline Murage (Correctional Services), Shadrack Mwadime (Shipping and Maritime), Alex Wachira (Energy), Susan Mang’eni (MSMEs Development), Mohammed Liban (Petroleum) and Festus Ng’eno (Environment).
LSK suit
The vetting of the PSs, who are accounting officers in ministries, which was to conclude tomorrow would have completed the cycle of vetting by MPs, thus allowing President Ruto’s government to take final shape.
Following Wetang’ula’s decision, outgoing PSs will remain in office until the new ones are appointed.
The Speaker’s decision comes a day after the Employment and Labour Relations court stopped the process.
Justice Nzioki wa Makau issued the temporary order until November 21 when a suit filed by Law Society of Kenya will be heard.
“A conservatory order is hereby issued restraining, 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 their appointment as Principal Secretaries,” read the order by the Judge.
LSK moved to court to challenge the nomination of 51 Principal Secretaries on November 2.
It named the National Assembly, Public Service Commission and the Attorney General as respondents in the suit. The principal Secretary nominees were named as interested parties.
Ethnic bias
According to LSK, the nomination of the PSs did not take into account the regional and ethnic balance, two-thirds gender principal, persons living with disabilities and youths contrary to the principles of good governance.
“The impugned list of principal secretaries, 13 are from the Kalenjin community from the Rift Valley region, and 13 others are from Central Kenya region to the detriment of the other 40 tribes and communities contrary to pluralism of the country and depicts regional imbalance,” argues LSK in court documents.
The vetting exercise kicked off after Wetang’ula directed the various committees to commence the exercise from November 14 to 18.
This came after the National Assembly last week concluded the reconstitution of House committees.
The committees were expected to table their reports in the House for either approval or rejection by November 24.
