Nairobi — Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula has suspended the approval hearings on President William Ruto's 51 nominees for Principal Secretaries, in compliance with a court order issued on Tuesday by the Employment and Labour Court.

In his communication to the National Assembly departmental committees, Wetangula further directed parliament's litigation counsel to challenge the order and have it set aside.

"The vetting of persons nominated to serve as Principal Secretaries is hereby suspended fortwith until further notice. The departmental committees which had already concluded the vetting proceedings and approval hearings are to suspend any activity relating to reporting to the House on the proceedings until further notice," Wetangula stated.

"Proceedings will resume subject to the directions of the Court."

On Tuesday, Justice Nzioki Makau certified the case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) as urgent.

In its petition, The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) argued that the nomination of PSs did not meet the criteria and the aspirations of all Kenyan as the list was not inclusive.

The lawyers' body sued the Attorney General, the National Assembly, and the Public Service Commission which conducted the interviews of the 51 PS nominees.

LSK further argued that the nomination of the PSs did not put into account the regional and tribal balance.

The society claimed that that provision of the two-thirds gender rule, persons living with disabilities, and the youth was not considered in the process of nomination.

"There's no justification whatsoever why the impugned nominations do not depict national representation including but not limited to the youth, people with disabilities, marginalized communities, the elderly among others," LSK argued.

The vetting process kicked off on Monday.