A labour court has suspended the appointment of former Othaya MP Mary Wambui as chairperson of the National Employment Authority following an application by the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA).

According to KYPA, Wambui is not qualified under law, policy and best practice to be the chairperson of the National Employment Authority.

The petitioners further argued that the former lawmaker does not meet the requisite qualification of having at least seven years’ experience in human resource management or its equivalent.

Employment and Labour Relations Judge Hellen Wasilwa stopped the implementation of a Gazette notice by President Uhuru Kenyatta Wednesday.

Wambui’s appointment elicited a lot of public backlash with the youth taking to social media to condemn president Uhuru Kenyatta for regurgitating  “old” leaders for state jobs when there are qualified unemployed youths who can take up the jobs.

Senator Johnson Sakaja, who is the chairman of the Young Parliamentarians Association had vowed to block Wambui’s appointment, saying it was

“The recent appointment of Mary Wambui Munene as chair of this institution goes against the specific provision of Section 10 (2) of the National Employment Authority Act as well as with the vision for this authority,” Sakaja said in an opinion piece published in the Standard Newspaper.

There is no greater challenge that we have today in Kenya than that of youth unemployment.

According to Sakaja, the National Employment Authority was designed as an institution that would focus on the state of unemployment in Kenya and its leadership would need a vision carrier with knowledge of the subject matter and with the passion to drive it especially at its inception.

“I have confidence that she has the ability to serve Kenyans in a different capacity but not as the vision carrier and Chairperson of the National Employment Authority,” he further stated and urged Wambui to decline the appointment,” he further stated.