Court Bars Parliament from Vetting President Ruto's 51 PS Nominees

The High Court has stopped the vetting of the 51 Principal Secretary (PS) nominees pending the hearing and determination of a suit challenging the process.

On Tuesday, Justice Nzioki Makau certified the case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) as urgent and ordered the National Assembly to halt the vetting of the PS nominees, which kicked off on Monday.

LSK filed a petition to challenge the PS nominees list unveiled by President Ruto on grounds that it does not meet regional and tribal balance requirements.

In addition, the society argues that the provision of the two-thirds gender rule, persons living with disabilities, and the youth was never put into account in the nominations.

"There's no justification whatsoever why the impugned nominations do not depict national representation including but not limited to the youth, people with disabilities, marginalized communities, the elderly among others," LSK says in court papers.

LSK further avers that the larger public and sidelined communities will suffer a continued miscarriage of justice if the vetting process and subsequent appointments are done.

The judge directed that the matter be placed before another court in the division for inter parties hearing on Monday.