Court Rejects CAS Appointments.On July 3, the High Court said that President William Ruto’s choice of 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries was illegal.
Three judges, Kanyi Kimondo, Hedwing Ong’udi, and Visram Alnashir, made the ruling.
The three-judge panel went on to say that there was public feedback before CASs were chosen, but it was only for 23 CASs, not the 50 that President William Ruto had chosen.
“The people had no say in choosing the extra 27 CASs. “The creation of the extra 27 CAS positions is against the constitution,” Justice Ongudi decided.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the whole set of 50 CASs is therefore unconstitutional,” said Justice Kimondo.
The National Assembly was not asked for its opinion before the Public Service Commission (PSC) chose the CASs. This was another mistake that the High Court found against President William Ruto’s government.
The Court decided that a government review was needed because the job of CASs fell somewhere between a constitutional and a state office.
“CASs are, for all intents and purposes, assistant Cabinet Secretaries,” the High Court said about the need for vetting in the National Assembly. “Principal Secretaries are relegated to reporting to CASs and CSs.”
In their decision, the three-judge panel also questioned whether it was wise for CSs to have 50 assistants when the Kenyan Constitution said there could only be 22 CSs.
“We don’t think it was what the people who wrote our Constitution had in mind for 50 CASs to stand in for 22 CASs,” the High Court decided.
Even though it was decided that the CAS job was advertised in accordance with the law, PSC was criticised for not saying how many openings there were.
On Friday, March 24, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Katiba Institute sued President William Ruto and the Public Service Commission (PSC) for breaking the law.
The two groups said that by naming 50 CASs, President Ruto had broken Article 10 of the Constitution, which called for the creation of 23 posts.
Lady Justice Hedwig Ong’udi of the High Court said that the CASs can’t get a salary, payment, or any other profit while the case is being settled.
Court Rejects CAS Appointments.
The Court Ruling On Appointment of CAS Officers
The High Court, sitting in Nairobi, has ruled as follows:
1. THAT the public participation for the creation of the post of CAS was only conducted for 23 CASs.
2. THAT the creation of the additional 27 CASs did not adhere to the Constitutional requirement of public participation.
3. THAT the appointment of extra 27 CASs did not satisfy public participation.
4. THAT the PSC did not prove that the public participation exercise covered the additional 27 CASs.
5. THAT the High Court has, therefore, ruled that the establishment of extra 27 CASs was unconstitutional.
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