Court suspends Balala's appointments to Tourism board

The Employment Court has suspended the appointment of Pauline Njoroge and four others to the Tourism Regulatory Authority Board.

Justice Hellen Wasilwa suspended their appointments on Thursday pending the hearing and determinate of a case by LSK filed in court.

The Law Society of Kenya challenged CS Najib Balala’s appointment of Kevin Muasya, Alais Lenana Moi, Isaac Njangu, Pauline Njoroge and Najma Ismael to the board.

“That pending the hearing and determination of this application interpartes, an interim order be and is hereby issued suspending the Gazette Notice Vol. CXXII- NO. 150 No. 5462 dated 7th August, 2020 notifying of the appointment of the Interested Parties herein as members of the Tourism Regulatory Board for a period of three years effective from 7th August, 2020,” the order reads.

LSK argue that on Friday last week, the five were appointed as members of the Tourism Regulatory Authority board for three years but on Saturday, the board communicated that the appointment of Njoroge had been revoked and Najma Ismael had been appointed as her replacement.

The legal body argues that the said appointments were unlawful as the five are the most unsuitable persons for the positions they were appointed in.“The said appointments are unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal as they were done in total disregard of procedural requirements applicable in the Public Service appointments,” reads court papers.

They argue that unless stopped, the board will end up with the most unsuitable members on account of having been handpicked and selected through a process that was not open and transparent nor competitive.

Balala had last week revoked Njoroge's appointment following the discovery of a disparaging social media post about the Nairobi National Park.