"Immoral, irresponsible!" - LSK moves to court over Ruto's 50 CAS nominees

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) will on Monday, March 20, file a petition challenging the decision by President William Ruto to nominate 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs).

LSK President Eric Theuri accused President Ruto of outrightly breaking the law by nominating 27 additional positions, even when the Head of Public Service and the Public Service Commission okayed only 23 CAS positions.

"We cannot be able to separate which of the 23 are legal and which of the 27 are illegal, so the entire list is tainted with illegality and on Monday, we shall be filing a case in court to challenge the move by the president to create extra offices that have not been recommended to him by the Public Service Commission," Theuri said on Saturday, March 18 in Mombasa.

'Is it moral!'

Other than the legal question, LSK wondered whether it was even moral for President Ruto to increase the government's wage bill at a time when Kenyans were battling with the high cost of living and prolonged drought.

"Is it even moral for him to do that when the country is undergoing drought, when there are protests in the country and complaints by members of the public that the cost of living is high. To bloat the wage bill of the government by an additional 27 unnecessary offices is extremely immoral and irresponsible," he added.

Election losers

President Ruto's list is dominated by Kenya Kwanza Alliance politicians who lost in their bid for various elective seats during the August 2022 General Election.

Other beneficiaries are politicians who ditched Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition immediately after President Ruto was declared winner of last year's presidential election.