The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Eldoret has nullified the appointment of eight county executives by Governor Stephen Sang of Nandi.
The governor had appointed the eight last November after winning his second term in office.
The court actually follows a petition filed by a resident of Nandi Onesmus Kimeli who sued the governor, county government, the county assembly and the Attorney General.
The eight whose appointments have been revoked include Kiplimo Lagat, Phillomena Kiptoo, Ruth Koech, Kibet Ronoh, Alfred Lagat, Hillary Serem, Isiah Keter and Scholastica Tuwei.
The eight had been sued in the matter as interested parties.
The first five were re-appointed by the governor after serving with him during the first term.
The county assembly only approved three of the eight on November 14, 2022.
Kimeli filed the petition in November last year arguing that the governor contravened the law in the appointments.
The petitioner argued that the appointments contravened the two-thirds gender rule and that the nominees also fell short of the requirement that they must have distinguished carriers in their areas of responsibility.
Justice Maurine Onyango ruled in favour of the petitioner after hearing the matter.
"It's evident from the aforegoing that the governor was bound to promote gender parity by adhering to the two-thirds gender rule and non-compliance with the same rendered the nominations unconstitutional and unlawful," said Justice Onyango in her ruling.
She ruled that the first five of the appointees were not subjected to fresh approval by the county assembly as required by the law.
The court noted that if the governor is re-elected he must constitute a fresh executive committee which must comply with section 35 of the County Goverment Act yet that was not the case in Nandi.
The executives being appointed must be nominated afresh and be vetted and approved by the assembly as per the manner set out in Section 42 of the Act.
She issued an order quashing the appointment of the eight as county executives and ordered the governor to re-advertise afresh for the positions.
The court ruling means the governor will go back to the drawing board and nominate his executives afresh so that they are vetted by the assembly.
The nominations must comply with the laws as directed by the court.
