• Employment and Labour Relations judge Hellen Wasilwa said the vetting process by Parliament of the two was done in excess of parliamentary powers.
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The nomination of Esther Murugi and Tiyah Galgalo to the National Land Commission has been quashed.
Employment and Labour Relations judge Hellen Wasilwa said the vetting process by Parliament of the two was done in excess of parliamentary powers.
"It is my finding that nomination of the two as members of NLC was unconstitutional flouting principles of appointment in public service," the judge said on Thursday.
The judge held that the selection panel as constituted was incompetent but that did not affect the outcome of the entire process.
In September, petitioner Moses Kiptuma Sinanga challenged the process used by the selection panel to nominate former Nyeri MP Murugi and Isiolo Woman Representative Galgalo as NLC commissioners.
Sinanga said the two were not shortlisted and sought conservatory orders restraining the panel and the Attorney General, including President Kenyatta, from forwarding the names of the appointed chairperson and members to the National Assembly for vetting.
The selection panel shortlisted candidates who had applied and successful ones notified in the dailies.
The petitioner, however, alleged that Galgalo and Murugi were not successful, terming it strange that their names were forwarded to the President.
He said they never applied to become members of the commission and were not interviewed and as such "it will be a great travesty if they are vetted and approved to be members".
Last month, the Labour Court blocked the newly appointed NLC chairman and his members from assuming office.
Justice Stephen Radido temporarily suspended the Gazette notice appointing them and barred them from assuming office.
The suspension followed an urgent application by activist Okiya Omtatah asking the court to bar them. He argued that the vetting and approval process in Parliament was a "total sham".
He wanted the nine nominations quashed, citing lack of due process.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had appointed Gershom Otachi as NLC chair, alongside commissioners former MP Esther Murugi, James Tuitoek, Getrude Nguke, Reginald Okumu, Samwel Kambi, Hubbie Al-Haji, Alister Mutugi and Tiya Galgalo.
Omtatah had challenged the Constitution of the selection panel for the NLC by the President without inclusion of one set of stakeholders as prescribed by Parliament in the First Schedule to the NLC Act.
The principle of transparency requires the selection panel to publish the order of suitability of appointment for all individuals interviewed for the two posts.Activist Okiya Omtatah
The section states that the panel includes two persons of the opposite gender, nominated by the Governmental Organisations Council, who have demonstrated competence and capacity in matters related to natural resources.
Omtatah accused the selection panel of conducting the recruitment exercise in an opaque manner and failing to publish the results of the interviews it conducted.