BY SAM ALFAN.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has suspended interviews scheduled by the Parliamentary Service Commission, which were to begin on Thursday, June 30.
The interviews included the positions of directors of Parliamentary Budget Office, Commission Secretariat, Parliamentary Research Services, Speaker’s Office- National Assembly and Speaker’s Office at the Senate.
Justice Nzioki wa Makau put on hold the process after activist Okiyah Omtatah accused the PSC’s of failure to publish the list of all applicants as required for transparency and accountability.
“That a declaration be and is hereby issued that the PSC’s failure in its obligation under the law to be transparent and accountable, and to provide for public participation in the impugned recruitment process is fatal to the recruitment exercise,” Omtatah said.
He said the PSC invited the applicants on February 18, 2022 but since the adverts went out, the commission did not publish the long lists of persons who applied for the positions.
“There is no provision for public participation in the entire recruitment process, and the very short period between the issuance of the notice on 24 and the holding of interviews on June 30, 2022 compounds the opaqueness in the recruitment process”, he argues.
Omtatah said aggrieved that the process was opaque and provides no provision for public participation in contravention of express provisions of the Constitution on the rule of law, public participation, and transparency and accountability.
In his court documents, he argues that contrary to Articles 10 and 232 of the Constitution, the advert did not provide for public participation and the Public Service (Values and Principles) Act No. 1A of 2015 provides at section 10 for fair competition and merit as the basis of appointments and promotions.
Further, section 11 provides for public participation and involvement in the promotion of values and principles, among them fair competition and merit as the basis of appointments.
