Nakuru's chief officer nominees to know fate on Thursday
Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika in a past event.
The fate of 21 nominees for Nakuru County chief officer will be known on Thursday, when a court will rule on whether they should be vetted by the assembly.
Nakuru Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge David Nderitu on Monday set the ruling date after confirming submissions from all the parties in the case.
The judge had directed that the parties file their submissions by November 21.
The case, filed by Nakuru resident Stephen Michael Oduor, challenged the list of nominees unveiled by Governor Susan Kihika.
Mr Oduor claims the nomination was not conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.
He told the court that some of the nominees were re-designated to positions that they had not applied and were not interviewed for.
He sued assembly Speaker Joel Karuri, Governor Kihika and the County Public Service Board, arguing that the list does not reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the county and did not consider marginalised groups and people with disabilities.
But the court last week heard that Speaker Karuri had filed an objection to the petition, saying it should be struck out.
Through lawyer Lawrence Karanja, Mr Karuri argued that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the petition, which he termed premature.
He argued that the petition should be handled by the High Court or the county assembly in adherence to the principle of separation of powers.
He argued that the court was usurping the powers of the assembly.
But Justice Nderitu extended the orders blocking the vetting of the nominees pending the determination of the matter.
“Having confirmed [the] filing of submissions by all the parties, the court will now retire to consider the submissions before making a ruling on November 24,” he ruled.
These events come as residents fret over the delayed appointment of the cabinet, saying this was affecting services.
Residents, including the members of the business community, threatened to participate in a demonstration to express their disappointment with the status quo.
Businessman George Kihara said delayed appointments will disrupt services and derail the county’s development projects.
“With a number of businesses solely dependent on the cabinet approvals, the county risks grinding to a halt and if this [goes on], we stand to lose billions of shillings in revenues,” Mr Kihara said.
