• On January 6 Governor Nyaribo forwarded the names of 10 nominees to the assembly for vetting at CECs.
• Omao says the names nominated by the governor do not include youth, people with disability and minority groups.
A Nyamira resident has asked a court to block the vetting of Governor Amos Nyaribo's nominees to the executive because there is no representation of special groups.
Vincent Omao said the governor did not follow the law in making the appointments and excluded the youth, persons with disability and marginalised groups.
Through lawyer Herman Bunde, Omao wants the court to stop the vetting of the nominees for the time being.
“Pending hearing and determination of the case, the court be pleased to grant interim orders of injunction restraining the governor and the county of assembly from continuing with the process of nomination, vetting and approval,” he says.
Nyaribo took office in December following the death of Governor John Nyagarama. He promptly dissolved Nyagarama's executive committee.
On January 6, he forwarded the names of seven new members of the committee and the three he retained to the speaker of the county assembly for vetting.
The nominees include Emily Moraa (Finance), Peris Mong'are (Agriculture), Samwel Maiko (Lands), Jones Omwenga (Roads) and Thomas Nyariki (Public Service Management).
Others are Thomas Ondieki (Environment), Stephen Onwong'a (Trade), Grace Nyamongo (Gender), Harrison Momanyi (Education) and Gladys Momanyi (Health Services).
Omao further says the clerk of the Nyamira county assembly has published a public participation schedule lapsing on January 20 and vetting slated for January 22. He claims that the notice is short, hence public participation before vetting will not be possible.
“The law requires a notice to be issued or published inviting public participation before the vetting of any nominee by the relevant committee of the county assembly,” reads court orders.
He further says the action of the county assembly in the entire process has locked out public views thus compromising the right of Nyamira residents to public participation.
“Deliberately shutting out the views of the petitioner and thousands of Nyamira residents which ought to be considered during the process of vetting and approval is not only illegal but also an abuse of the rule of law,” Omao said.
Omao argues that the governor failed to nominate or appoint representation from special groups despite some of them applying for the positions.
He also claims that the move by Nyaribo to change the names of some individuals he had earlier nominated for vetting and approval signals malice and a lack of transparency.
“The governor’s actions of moving or re-designing of aforesaid candidates from their respective interviewed positions to others breached the principles of competition, merit accountability equity and transparency,” Omao argues.
Omao told the court that in the event that names are forwarded and proceeds to be vetted, the residents of Nyamira will be denied their fundamental right to good governance and democratic process.