Lobby goes to court to scrap office of the Prime CS

 

A lobby has petitioned the High Court to challenge Musalia Mudavadi's formation and appointment as the Prime Cabinet Secretary.

According to Operation Linda Jamii, which is headed by Fredrick Ogola, it is unconstitutional to establish an office whose duties, as outlined in Executive Order No. 1 of 2023, modify the Constitution's Basic Structure.

The petitioner also claims that because the positions of Harriette Chiggai as the CS President's adviser on women's rights and Monica Juma as the CS President's adviser on national security are not mentioned in the constitution, they are illegal, unlawful, and unconstitutional.

The petitioner also criticises the entire cabinet's constituting composition for not upholding the constitutional requirements for gender equality, and the inclusion of people with disabilities, and youth.

The petitioner claims that the current makeup of the Cabinet, which includes the President and Deputy President who are both men, violates the constitutional requirement that not more than two-thirds of elective and appointive bodies be composed of members of the same gender.

"The cabinet as presently constituted does not comprise of at least 5 per cent of persons living with disabilities thus violative of the constitution and principles of affirmative action entrenched in the constitution," Ogola states. 

He is asking the court to rule that the creation of the Prime Cabinet Secretary's position constitutes a change to the fundamental makeup of the national executive in violation of Articles 10(2), 130(1), 147(1), and 153(2) of the Constitution and is, as a result, unconstitutional, illegal, null, and of no legal significance.

"The foregoing notwithstanding, the creation of the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary to assist the President and the Deputy President in the day-to-day running of the government is akin to creating a second office of the Deputy President, who by law is the only assistant to the President," court documents read.    BY MPASHO NEWS