Court stops swearing in of President Kenyattas NLC nominees

The High Court has temporarily stopped the swearing in of nine members appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to the National Land Commission (NLC) pending the hearing of a case filed by activist Okiya Omtatah.

President Uhuru Kenyatta officially appointed Mr. Gershom Otachi as NLC chairman and Ms. Esther Murugi, Prof. James Tuitoek, Ms. Gertrude Nguku, Mr. Reginald Okumu, Mr. Kazungu Kambi, Ms. Tiyah Galgalo, Ms. Hubbie Al-Haji and Mr. Alister Mutugi as members of the commission on Wednesday after their approval by parliament on Tuesday.

Omtatah, however, moved to court seeking the suspension of the gazette notice issued by the President for the appointment of the nine.

The activist argues that due process was not followed in the nomination of the NLC chairman and eight members.

He claims that the selection panel was incompetently constituted by omitting members required to represent stakeholders.

He further argues that the recruitment exercise was done in an opaque manner including failure to publish the results of the interviews conducted.