KENYA— The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi has suspended a January 22 gazette notice that appointed board members of Kenya’s Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) plunging the board into disarray.
Justice Bryam Ongaya also suspended another gazette notice of January 19th that revoked the appointment of seven PPB members.
According to Ongaya, the CS for Health contravened the law as only the President of Kenya can appoint, or revoke said the appointment of a state corporation board as ascribed under the State Corporation Act.
“The revocation of the previous board and appointment of the new board was unlawful, irregular, and unconstitutional,” ruled Ongaya.
He further noted that evidence on record showed that the new board was put in place without nominations from the relevant statutory nominations authority, making them incompetent.
Justice Byram Ongaya suspended another notice of January 19 that also revoked the appointment of seven PPB members on February 28, 2022.
“Pending the hearing of a petition challenging the appointment, the court suspends the gazette notices that replaced the previous board with a new one,” Ongaya also ruled.
The judge said the previous board members were at liberty to independently consider the appointment of the acting PPB Chief Executive Officer or registrar.
“The appointment of the CEO will be from among the current pool of PPB employees holding substantive management positions,” the court ruled.
The PPB ruling in the context
Justice Ongaya delivered a ruling after a Nakuru surgeon Magare Gikenyi filed a petition on April 25 against PPB, Health CS Susan Nakhumicha, and three new board members.
On January 19th, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, CS Nakhumicha S. Wafula through a gazette notice revoked the appointment of Dr. Paul Magutu Njari, Dr. Dorcas Wanjiru Ngechu, Dr. John Munguti Kisengi, Dr. Miriam Wairimu Ndirangu, Dr. Stephens Ogutu Oyaya and Dr Diana Marion effective January 20, 2023.
CS Wafula also dismissed the appointment of Dr. Jacinta Wasike as acting CEO of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and the reappointment of Fred Siyoi for a second four-year term was confirmed in the gazette notice.
The CS noted that the then-acting Board Chairperson, Dr. Magare submitted that the three board members, without a quorum (at least five of eight members), irregularly renewed Dr. Fred Siyoi’s term as PPB CEO on February 27.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3(1) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, as read together with section 51(1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Health revokes the appointment of… as members of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, with effect from 20th January 2023,” the CS said.
Furthermore, the President had revoked the appointment of Rogers Atebe by the former President as chairperson to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, and in his place, Charles Githinji was appointed for a three-year term.
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board is Kenyan’s drugs regulatory authority established under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, Chapter 244 of the Laws of Kenya.
Its role is to regulate the practice of pharmacy and the manufacture and trade of drugs and poisons.
The board also aims to implement appropriate regulatory measures to achieve the highest standards of safety, efficacy, and quality for all drugs, chemical substances, and medical devices, whether locally manufactured, imported, exported, distributed, sold, or used.
The board’s goal is to protect the consumer as outlined by the laws regulating drugs in Kenya.
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