Ogeto has defended his nomination arguing that the office of Solicitor General is not a constitutional office hence matters concerning his appointment as the office holder cannot be litigated before the court/FILE
NAIROBI Kenya, Mar 5 – Solicitor General nominee Kennedy Ogeto has urged the High Court to dismiss a case challenging his nomination by activist Okiya Omtatah.
Ogeto has defended his nomination arguing that the office of Solicitor General is not a constitutional office hence matters concerning his appointment as the office holder cannot be litigated before the court.
He has further contended that the High Court lacks jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition given that the issues raised solely relate to his impending employment.
On its part, the National Assembly has opposed the case arguing that the petitioner seeks to have the court interfere with its constitutional mandate of vetting and approving nominees for public office.
“Active parliamentary proceedings with respect to the approval of Ogeto for the office of Solicitor General are currently underway,” read the court papers.
The Attorney General on the other hand has through State counsel Charles Mutinda insisted that Omtatah’s case is baseless and ought to be dismissed.
Mutinda argues that there’s no evidence of Omtatah having asked for information from the State on the matter before filing the bear petition based on unsupported allegations.
Activist Omtatah argues that Ogeto was handpicked by President Uhuru Kenyatta without subjecting him to a competitive process as required by law.
By doing so, Omtatah argues that the Head of State is in violation of the Constitution because he was not identified and recommended by the Public Service Commission on merit.
He accuses President Kenyatta of violating Articles 155(3)(a) of the Constitution, which states that the President shall nominate a person for appointment as Principal Secretary from among persons recommended by the PSC.
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