- Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued the order following an application filed by Nzau Ya Musau and Lucy Lugalia.
- The Judge said CS Information and his PS will not take any further action in regard to the appointments.
Image: FILE
The High Court has issued an order stopping any further appointments of members of the Media Complaints Commission.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued the order following an application filed by Nzau Ya Musau and Lucy Lugalia.
The Judge said CS Information and his PS will not take any further action in regard to the appointments.
Justice Bahati said will remain in force until October 7 when parties will appear in court to highlight submissions in the case.
Vacancies in the position of Chair and six members of the commission were published in a gazette notice dated May 24.
Nzau and Lugalia proceeded to apply as members.
They told the court that they were shortlisted alongside 18 others.
"We were interviewed and selected amongst 4 other candidates to fill up the 6 vacant positions," read th documents in part.
The duo explain that the Gazettement process was delayed for close to three weeks for various reasons including the fact that the candidate who emerged first was appointed to a board position at the Nation Media Group (NMG), necessitating her replacement.
What followed was the CS gazetting 4 members (out of the 6 names presented to him) and the chairperson, omitting the names of Nzau and Lugalia.
The documents indicate that information PS Prof. Kisiangani issued a letter in which he alleged that:
“Following background checks and vetting of the proposed candidates by the relevant Government Agencies, it has been found that two candidates Lucy Minayo and Anthony Nzau Musau have been found unsuitable for appointment for the position of Member. Their nomination will not be favourable to the sector.”
Nzau says they were not aware of any background checks and furthermore, no one gave them a chance or opportunity to address the alleged unsuitability.
"Though Section 27 (5) of the Media Council Act grants CS powers to reject names proposed by a Selection Panel, the same must be on reasonable grounds, must be transparent and must conform to the dictates of Article 47 of the Constitution and the Fair Administrative Action Act," said the two.
It is their argument that the gazetment of names minus them is illegal and has caused discontentment with the Kenya Media Sector Working Group.
Those sued in the case are CS information, PS Information, the Media Complaints Commission and the AG.
The Kenya Editors Guild, KUJ and LSK have been listed as interested parties in the case.
The Judge today also allowed the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights to participate in the case.
They will come in as the fourth interested party.
Parties were directed to file the necessary responses in the case.
They will highlight their submissions on October 7.
The order will remain in force till then.