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Doctor wants appointment of wa Iria, Muriithi and Gitura to top State jobs by Ruto quashed
A medical doctor has filed a petition before the Environment and Labour Court challenging the president’s appointment of three individuals in state corporations terming it as illegal and unconstitutional.
Dr Magare Gikenyi and two other petitioners are challenging the appointment of former Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria, former Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi and former Murang’a Senator Kembi Gitura.
The three were appointed last month to chair the boards of Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Public Procurement Regulatory Board (PPRB) respectively.
The petitions, in their application filed under a certificate of urgency, say the President flouted Article 232 of the Constitution, which stipulates the values and principles of the public service, by not undertaking competitive recruitment.
The petitioners want the court to quash the appointments with the grounds that the process was done illegally without following the rule of the law.
They prayed the court to issue conservatory orders to suspend the appointment of the four pending the hearing of their application.
The petitioners also want the appointment of former KRA board chairman Anthony Ng’ang’a Mwaura to the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) in the same capacity rescinded.
They aver that according to Section 8 of the Kenya Roads Act, the KeRRA board chairman should be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary from among five members nominated by various bodies.
“They should be appointed by the CS from among members nominated by each organisation set in the second schedule each of which shall nominate and approve three candidates at its annual general meeting.”
Prior to the appointment, Mwaura was not nominated by any of the organisations.
Being the immediate chairman of Kenya Revenue Authority,they aver that it was not possible for him to be nominated by any of the organisations contemplated in the law, adding that he does not have knowledge and experience in the field.
Mwaura holds a Bachelors Degree in Education and a Diploma in Business Management while the Roads Act stipulates that one should have knowledge in, among others, highway engineering, surveying, urban and regional planning and transport economy.
The petitioners also state that Mwaura is the proprietor of Toddy Civil Engineering, a company that specializes in civil engineering and the sale and supplying of construction materials, leasing construction equipments, general construction and, therefore, he is likely to have conflict of interest in the new role.
According to them, his integrity is already in question since he was implicated in a graft case filed at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court alongside former Nairobi Governor Gideon Mbuvi Sonko and 17 others where the case was terminated by the prosecution without Mwaura being put on his defence.
In another matter where the judgement was delivered on July 15, 2024, the court quashed his appointment as KRA chairman due to integrity issues.
“Electing such a person as the chairman of KeRRA is a slap in the face on the issue of Chapter Six of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity and clear statutory provisions.”
They aver that “lack of conviction cannot be equated with presence of integrity where conviction is a criminal offence whose standard of proof is beyond reasonable doubt whereas lack of integrity is based on preponderance of evidence.”
Justice Jemimah Wanza Keli certified the application as urgent and ordered that the application be served to the respondents by Tuesday January 7, 2025 and the response be filed within seven days.
The parties were further ordered to appear in court for interparte hearing on January 16, 2025.
