National Assembly speaker, Moses Wetangula, on Wednesday, November 16, suspended the vetting of nominated principal secretaries.
Wetangula, in a response seen by Kenyans.co.ke, noted that Parliament was obliged to comply with the orders issued, adding that the exercise would be delayed until further notice.
He also barred departmental committees from proceeding with further activities, including compiling the final report on the nominees who were already vetted.
The statement by Wetangula was also affirmed by the Leader of Majority, Kimani Ichungwah, who notified members of the suspension during a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) parliamentary group meeting at Stae House.
However, the speaker noted that parliament would challenge the injunction through its lawyers.
"I have directed our Litigation Counsel to move the concerned courts to set aside the ex-parte orders based on various legal grounds. Thereafter, the proceedings will resume subject to the directions of the Court," the notice read in part.
Various departmental committees in Parliament had vetted Principal secretaries' nominees despite the conservatory orders secured by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
The Committee on Defence and Blue Economy and Fisheries were among the committees that sat to evaluate the suitability of the nominees following the orders.
According to the Chairperson of the Committee on Defence, Nelson Koech- the committee was not served any letter against the ongoing exercise nor the nominees, and hence the members were justified to proceed with the vetting.
“There has not been any petition for or against the nominees, so we move forward," Nelson Koech stated during the vetting on Tuesday, November 15.
LSK challenged the Public Service Commission (PSC) nominations arguing that the process failed to meet the threshold of gender balance and regional imbalance.
Subsequently, the Labour and Employment Relations Court granted conservatory measures- further delaying the full constitution of President Ruto's government.
The President was compelled to work with officials from the previous administration in his first days in office. Ruto had assured the nation that he would comply with all court orders contrary to his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta.
