Justice Onesmus Makau, of the Employment and Labour Relations Court has suspended the order by President Uhuru Kenyatta for fresh vetting of all procurement office heads.
This is after activist Okiya Omtatah moved to court to stop the suspension of the procurement heads which was effective from Monday, citing violation of the constitution and did not involve public participation.
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The Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua directed all heads of procurement and accounting units in public offices to step aside with immediate effect from Monday
The petitioner, Okiya stated that Mr Kinyua does not have powers to give such orders.
The High Court Judge marked the judgement as urgent and directed that the petition ruling be served upon the respondents of the case who include Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua and Attorney General, Paul Kihara Kariuki.
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“It is totally unreasonable and unprocedural unfair for the public officers who have personally not been accused of any wrong doing to be punished,” argues Omtatah.
“The directive constitutes a gross attack on Article 25(c) of the Constitution which declares that the rights to a fair trial may not be limited.”
This comes as a blow after the president issued orders for all procurement heads to be vetted afresh in a reinforced fight against corruption.
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