Why the High Court deemed creation of 50 CAS's illegal

The 50 were nominated from a list of 240 shortlisted candidates.

Piece by: SUSAN MUHINDI
News

• Ruto on March 16, nominated 50 CASs for the position against 23 vacancies announced by the Public Service Commission.

• The 50 were nominated from a list of 240 shortlisted candidates.

Dennis Itumbi.
Image: Instagram/Dennis Itumbi

The establishment of the 50 CAS has been deemed unlawful by the High Court. The legislation was not followed in the creation of the aforementioned office, according to a three-judge bench.

It was not the intention of the constitution's framers, according to Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Hedwig Ong'undi, and Ali Visram, to have 50 CASs substitute for 22 Cabinet Secretaries.

The bench agreed with the petitioners in the case that the additional 27 postings did not include any public engagement.

"The sequence and procedure leading to the additional 27 posts did not adhere to public participation. The process didn't meet the threshold," the bench ruled.

The courts ruled that PSC had the burden of demonstrating that public engagement covered all posts.

On March 16, Ruto proposed 50 CASs for the position in response to the 23 openings that the Public Service Commission had previously publicized.

A list of 240 people who had been shortlisted was used to nominate the 50.On March 23, 2023, they were sworn in when the National Assembly declined to confirm them, claiming that it lacked the legal jurisdiction to do so.

Later, the High Court issued orders preventing the CASs from taking office while a petition contesting their appointment procedure is heard and decided.

The court also prohibited the appointees from receiving a salary, pay, or any other benefit until the resolution of the case brought by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Katiba Institute, according to the order made by Lady Justice Hedwig Ong'udi.

The judiciary then asserted that it had no involvement in the swearing-in procedure and that it had not sent any representative to conduct the event at the State House.

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