Two Kenyans appointed to serve as members in the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) board have been dealt a blow after the Employment and Labour Relations Court suspended their appointment.
In an order issued on Wednesday, Justice Hellen Wasilwa suspended the appointment of Dorothy Atieno and Timothy Waema by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe pending the hearing of a petition filed by Advocate Samuel Chelongo.
“This honourable court hereby issues a conservatory order staying the CS Health’s decision to appoint the 1 and 2 interested parties to the position of board members of Kemsa,” the order reads.
Justice Wasilwa directed Chelongo to serve the CS and the Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki. The case will be heard on September 23.
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In the case, Chelongo argues that the appointments that were gazetted in May were illegal.
Through lawyer Dorcas Mwae, Chelongo claims that Atieno and Waema both hold two public offices as they are yet to resign from their previous positions.
According to Chengo, Atieno works at the Kenyatta National Hospital as an assistant chief pharmacist, a position, while Waema is a still a professor of Information Systems in the School of Computing and Informatics at the University of Nairobi.
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“It goes without saying that both Atieno and Waema earn a double salary as public officers, an act that is against our Kenyan Constitution of 2010 and the Public Officers Ethics Act,” the petition reads in part.
Kemsa has for the past few weeks been on the spot over irregular tenders awarded to companies associated with local politicians that allegedly led to loss of billions donated to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
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