President William Ruto's nomination of Emily Mwende, John Kioli, Umar Omar, and George Odera to the National Climate Change Council has been put on hold by the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi (NCCC).
Until a petition contesting their recruitment process is in court, Judge Mugure Thande's interim ruling prohibits the nominees from being selected, gazetted, or holding offices as participants of NCCC.
Mt. Kenya Network Forum and the indigenous people's national steering committee on climate change have submitted the petition (IPNSCCC).
The petitioners assert that the nominations, as mentioned earlier, made by President Ruto did not pass the necessary legislative standards for openness, merit, competition, and public engagement.
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They further claim that the Kenyan civil society fighting climate change is outside the council members.
According to the court documents, "It needs to be clarified who among the nominees of the largest civil society organization is working on climate change as it is in the Council Act. It also needs to be explained what process was to select the representative for the civil society as required by law and the Constitution and whether there was any type of public participation in the appointed individuals under the Public Participation Act.
The petitioners also contend that there are no legal postings for the positions.
They have filed lawsuits against the National Climate Change Council and Attorney General Justin Muturi.
For guidance, the case will be re-mentioned on April 17.
