• After appointing the Cabinet and Principal Secretaries, Ruto has been making appointments to various boards of key parastatals.
• Debasso ran for the Isiolo governor's seat in the August 2022 general election but lost to Abdi Guyo.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto's reorganisation of government has been dealt a blow after the High Court halted the appointment of Hussein Tene Debasso as chairman of the Kenya National Trading Corporation.
The move follows a petition by Captain Paul Rukaria, whose appointment was revoked by the President via a Gazette Notice dated February 6, 2023.
Ruto, who succeeded President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 13 last year, has since been reorganising the government by appointing people he believes will help implement his agenda for the country.
After appointing the Cabinet and Principal Secretaries, Ruto has been making appointments to various boards of key parastatals.
On February 6 via a Gazette Notice, Ruto announced the appointment of Debasso to replace Rukaria as the Kenya National Trading Corporation chairman for a three-year term.
Captain Rukaria, a retired commissioned officer of the Kenya Defence Forces, had been appointed by Uhuru on August 5, 2022–four days before the presidential elections–for a term of three years.
He was aggrieved by the revocation of his appointment and moved to court to halt the move.
Rukaria argued that there was no consultation with the State Corporations Advisory Committee before the revocation of his appointment.
"Section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act is clear that before the President can revoke the appointment of any board member, there have to be cogent reasons for the said revocation and that the same must be subjected to consultation with the state Corporation Advisory Committee," he said in his petition.
He listed President Ruto as the first respondent and the Attorney General as the second respondent. Debasso and the Law Society of Kenya were listed as interested parties.
On Wednesday, Nairobi Employment and Labour Relations Court judge James Rika agreed with the petitioner and issued orders halting the appointment of Debasso pending the hearing of the application.
"The respondents, agents, representatives, employees and anyone else and or anyone else under their direction, are barred from effecting/applying Gazette Notice No.1383 dated February 6, 2023, which purports to degazette the petitioner as the chairperson of the Kenya National Trading Corporation," the court ruled.
The case will be mentioned on March 28.
Debasso ran for the Isiolo governor's seat in the August 2022 general election but lost to Abdi Guyo.
The mandate of the KNTC is to stabilise consumer commodity prices by ensuring a balance in supply and demand through the availability of products in the country.
It also undertakes procurement agency services for the government and general public at a minimal fee.