BY SAM ALFAN.
Appointments of Kenya Prisons Commissioner General Isaya Osugo and Omar Tawane Gudal on a two year local service agreement was lawful and fro justifiable reasons, court rules.
“The petition is therefore found without merit and is hereby dismissed with no orders as to cost, ”ruled Justice Abuodha Jorum.
Labour and employment relation Court Justice Nelson Abuodha said that the current state of affairs in the country is that there is no statute that prescribes the retirement age.
“The matter is left to a policy document which has since attained the status of a binding law, ”reads the judgment.
Further justice Abuodha noted that the state of the law is a cause to worry about but until the policy is changed or regulated by appropriate legislation the court cannot interfere unless the such appointment on the face of it smacks of bad faith and influenced by ulterior considerations which if allowed would offend the principles of public service contained under article 232 of the constitution.
Omtatah had faulted the then Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, the Public Service Commission (PSC) and its head as well as the Attorney-General of retaining the two contrary to the government policy to retire public servants upon attaining the age of 60.
He also claimed that Gudal has been acting for three years as the Regional Prisons commander in North Eastern hence it would be prudent if the position is advertised so that an appropriate person can be appointed.
He claimed that the President too has no mandate to direct PSC on how to perform its duties considering that it is the body that deals with appointments for public office holders.
He argued that it is the President who directed that Osugo’s term to be extended despite the fact he had clocked 60 years of age.
