Court blocks Ruto’s 50 CASs from assuming office
President William Ruto’s 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) will remain out of the office until a court decision is reached on whether to lift interim orders that blocked them from assuming office.
Justice Hedwig Ong’udi on Tuesday declined requests by the CASs to set aside the temporary orders issued last week.
The Law Society of Kenya and activists have filed twin petitions challenging Ruto’s appointment of 50 CASs, instead of the 23 recommended by the Public Service Commission.
The legal dispute revolves around the authority of the High Court to hear and determine the lawsuits, and whether the court will allow LSK and Katiba Institute to amend their petition.
At least seven CASs had reported to their offices and were allocated duties, including Samuel Ole Tunai, Millicent Omanga, and Mohamud Saleh.
However, on Tuesday, CASs Dennis Itumbi, Evans Kidero, Samuel Tunai, and Nicholas Gumbo pleaded with the court to lift the temporary orders and allow them to return to their offices.
Lawyer Adrian Kamotho, representing Itumbi, argued that there is no known law that caps the number of Chief Administrative Secretaries at 23.
“The number of office holders to recommend is purely within the province of the PSC based on a comprehensive workload analysis among other relevant considerations. The court cannot be invited to render drastic reliefs as sought here on the basis of legally non-binding proposals borne in the correspondence by Joseph Kinyua, former head of public service,” said lawyer Kamotho.
Attorney-General Justin Muturi wants the court to first handle the issue of jurisdiction before engaging on the merits of the petitions.
The AG, together with PSC and the SRC, want the court to first determine the question of jurisdiction before any other application is dealt with.