President William Ruto is now free to appoint Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) into office after the Employment and Labour Relations Court dismissed an application by the Law society of Kenya that sought to bar the president from making the CAS appointments.

Justice Monicah Mbaru, of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, ruled Thursday that the Public Service Commission (PSC) to create the position is lawful.

The LSK had petitioned that plans to establish the office of the CAS was likely to cause financial strain to many Kenyans as they will be forced to cater for extra wages for jobs that can be done by an already established office of the Principal Secretary (PS).

Dismissing LSK’s petition to declare the position illegal, the judge noted that the commission followed the requisite legal procedure in its bid to establish the office, taking steps such as inviting public views.

The ruling paves way for the PSC to invite applications for the job vacancies advertised in October last year. The exercise was halted after the LSK sued.

In April 2021, the High Court declared the position as unconstitutional, citing the PSC’s failure to undertake public participation and stakeholder engagement while establishing it.

In a notice, the PSC had indicated that the appointments would be contractual as determined, with successful candidates remunerated according to the CAS’ CSG 3 job grade.