Nairobi — The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has filed a petition contesting the appointment of the 19 Cabinet Secretaries.
The Commission cited unment integrity threshold during the vetting process and inadequate public participation.
"The vetting is faulted for the following reasons, incompetent evaluation, failure to address Integrity concerns and inadequate public participation," the petition circulated on Friday read.
The Commission said lack of proper vetting undermines the integrity of the appointment process potentially leading to the selection of unqualified or unsuitable individuals, a move that serves to erode public trust and compromise good governance.
The Commission argued the vetting lacked parliamentary accountability as it did not disclose to the public in advance the memoranda received as well as the criteria for their acceptance and rejection.
"Regarding the rejected Memoranda, Parliament did not give the affected individuals an opportunity to address any concerns, instead it prioritized procedural technicalities over the substance of the submissions," read the petition.
The Petitioner invited the court to revoke the appointments of the Cabinet Secretaries and declare their appointment illegal and unconstitutional.
Futher, KHRC asked for "an order for mandamus directing the President to initiate a fresh appointments process in compliance with the constitution".
The Commission aso asked the court to declare that any of the Cabinet Secretaries appointed contrary to the advise of the EACC are unfit to hold office and that the appointment is unconstitutional and illegal.
KHRC also invited the court to declare that National Assembly acted in contravention of the Constitution by failing to provide to the public beforehand the criteria it intended to use for the assessment of the CS nominees.
The petition followed the searing in on Thursday of nineteen Cabinet Secretaries after the National Assembly voted approving an Appointments Committee report confirming ninteen of twenty Cabinet Secretary.
