The High Court has merged two petitions contesting Attorney General Justin Muturi's advice letter on nominations and the establishment of offices in state enterprises and public universities.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi found that Julius Ogogoh's suit in Mombasa, which has subsequently been transferred to Nairobi, presents identical grounds as the one filed by former anti-corruption PS John Githongo.
The judge stated that while the petitions were different, the two cases were based on the same circumstances.
In the petition, Mr Ogogoh faults Mr Muturi of abdicating his duty as the principal legal advisor to the government and clothing himself with non-existent powers of being an unnecessary arbiter between independent government entities.
This was after Mr Muturi sent a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Simon Rotich on August 16, 2023 on interpretation of PSC’s mandate.
The dispute started following a circular letter from Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on May 16, 2023 and June 8, 2023 where he sought opinion from Mr Muturi on the Proposed Guidelines on Management and Terms and Conditions of Service for board members and staff of State corporations.
Mr Mudavadi also sought an opinion on the issue of jurisdiction in relation to state corporations, the constitutional powers of the PSC in relation to the human resource function.
According to Mr Muturi, the PSC had no powers to establish or abolish offices in the public service, appoint persons, hold or act in those offices, or confirm appointments and exercise disciplinary control over persons in those offices.
Mr Muturi further said such powers can be adopted by the State Corporation Advisory Committee (SCAC) through the State Corporation Act and the Office of the Attorney General Act.