Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju and businessman Chris Kirubi are among hundreds of individuals whose appointments have been declared illegal.
A report by Daily Nation on Sunday, December 6, indicated that the High Court declared the hiring process of the parastatals staff, which was done in 2016, as illegal.
The three judge bench consisting of Jessie Lesiit, Chacha Mwita and Lucy Njuguna however, declined to shift the mandate of the hiring process from the Head of State and Cabinet Secretaries to the Public Service Commission (PSC).
In 2016, Tuju was made the chairman of Lake Basin Development Authority while Kirubi was appointed as the board chairman of Brand Kenya, which is now defunct.
The appointments had been made on four separate dates in 2016; in March 11, June 10, June 24 and July 1.
In the ruling, the judges directed that future parastatal appointment be more competitive in that the jobs will be advertised and interviews carried out in public.
After the interviews will the President and Cabinet Secretaries make their appointments from the list of successful applicants presented.
Previously, the parastatal jobs were considered a means to reward loyalists by ruling governments in which appointments were not subject to scrutiny.
"The people told the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission that they want merit-based appointments and promotions to public offices," ruled the judges.
"The Court has declared that any law allowing an appointment to a parastatal must be read as requiring fairness, transparency and competition.
"The judgement ends the culture of nepotism, cronyism or 'jobs-for-the boys'," argued Katiba Institute and Africog lawyer Dudley Ochiel.
Other people who were affected in the ruling included former Youth Enterprise Development Fund Ronald Sumba, Former Chairman of Kenya Airports Authority Julius Karangi, former Agricultural Development Corporation Board chairman Bifwoli Wakoli and former Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation chairman Francis Kimemia.
Some of the appointments have elapsed but the ruling seeks to effect future hiring process.
