High Court halts PS gender rule case pending Court of Appeal jurisdiction decision
The court ruled that proceeding with the case while a similar matter remains before the ELRC could result in parallel proceedings and potentially conflicting decisions.
Nairobi, Kenya - The High Court has suspended proceedings in a legal challenge to the constitutionality of President William Ruto's 2022 appointment of 51 Principal Secretaries, citing an unresolved jurisdictional dispute with the Employment and Labour Relations Court. The petition, filed by the Katiba Institute, argued that the gender composition of the appointed officials violated the two-thirds gender rule, with only 24 percent of the 51 nominees being women.
The High Court ruled that proceeding with the case while a similar case was pending before the ELRC could lead to conflicting decisions and dismissed the petition on its merits. The government argued that the gender balance had improved since the appointment due to subsequent reorganisations, but the High Court did not address these points as the jurisdictional issue remained unresolved.
The case will be revisited on December 3 when the parties are expected to update the court on the Court of Appeal's decision on jurisdiction.
Written by urgent.news from Capital FM Kenya's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
