It’s now a sigh of relief for the 51 principal secretaries nominees after High Court strucking out cases that had been filed challenging the nomination of these principal secretaries by President William Ruto.
Justice Nduma Nderi dismissed the consolidated petitions, stating that they had been filed prematurely, and that now the court can only be approached once the National Assembly conclude the vetting process.

“This is a sacred mandate given to the House by the people of Kenya… the petitioners must await the conclusion of the process,” the court noted.

The High Court stopped the vetting exercise of the PSs pending a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) last week, where two other cases were filed and have been consolidated.

The Law Society of Kenya moved to court to challenge the PS nominees list unveiled by President William Ruto on grounds that it does not take into account the regional and tribal balance and also claimed that provision of the two-thirds gender rule, persons living with disabilities, and the youth was never put into account in the nominations.

It also argued that the larger public and marginalised communities will suffer a continued miscarriage of justice if the vetting process and subsequent appointments are done.

“There’s no justification whatsoever why the impugned nominations do not depict national representation including but not limited to the youth, people with disabilities, marginalised communities, the elderly among others,” argues LSK.

The High court can now proceed with the vetting of the 51 nominees.

By Jane Kibathi.