Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has issued a vigorous rebuttal to former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi and lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi for their assertions that all dismissed CSs are unfit to hold any state office following their termination by President William Ruto.
Responding to the gazettement regarding the dismissal of Ruto’s 21 Cabinet Secretaries, Havi asserted on X that the dismissal “means they are ineligible to hold any public office forever: appointive or elective.” Havi added that, by law, the ousted CSs fall into the same category as impeached governors or judges deemed unfit to serve.
Prominent lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi supported Havi’s stance, stating that Ruto’s dismissals met the necessary constitutional threshold, rendering the CSs ineligible for re-appointment.
“That is a very bold and brave submission and I’m afraid Havi states the law correctly. President Ruto can’t reappoint any member of the cabinet because their dismissal under the constitution implied a grave omission or commission,” Ahmednasir wrote on X.
“That grave constitutional omission or commission hasn’t been erased or addressed in the past week…and can’t be addressed in the future. Reappointing any dismissed CS will engulf President Ruto in a fresh political crisis and unparalleled constitutional imbroglio.”
In his swift rejoinder, Kuria disputed the lawyers’ opinions, arguing their submissions were ill-informed since a dismissal on grounds of impeachment would warrant individual disciplinary action for the CSs, not a class action.
“”As lawyers of (dis)repute, you need to read whatever provisions against the tenets of fair administrative action. If your ‘scholarly’ arguments are to hold water, the affected persons then have to be taken through a disciplinary process or a court martial. Not a class action,” Kuria wrote.
“Otherwise if you are dismissed as a clerk at Safaricom you don’t even qualify for a certificate of good conduct. This McCarthyism by you Pharisees MUST STOP.”
On July 11, President Ruto dismissed the Attorney General and all his 21 Cabinet Secretaries, except for Prime Cabinet CS Musalia Mudavadi.
President Ruto stated that he decided to dissolve his Cabinet “upon reflection, listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said, and after a holistic appraisal of the performance of the cabinet and its achievements and challenges.”
However, Kenyans online have criticized the president for sparing the Prime CS, who holds an unconstitutional office.
