The High Court has declined to certify as urgent a petition seeking to bar President William Ruto's Cabinet from office, The Eastleigh Voice reported on Thursday. The petitioners wanted the court to stop 25 members of the national executive from presenting themselves as Cabinet members. They include Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and the Cabinet Secretaries. The refusal means the case will not be heard on a priority basis.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah filed the case on Monday with activists Eliud Karanja Matindi and Dr Magare Gikenyi. They lodged it at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court in Nairobi. According to the Daily Nation, the 25 officials are the President, the Deputy President, the Attorney-General and 22 Cabinet Secretaries. The petitioners want them stopped from performing official duties. They also want the Controller of Budget barred from approving their salaries and benefits.
The case builds on a June 30 judgment. The court found that the Cabinet broke the constitutional rule that no gender should hold more than two-thirds of seats in an appointive body. Of the 25 members, 18 were men and seven were women, the Nation reported. That left the Cabinet two short of the nine women required. The court gave the President 120 days to make compliant appointments. The deadline expired on October 28.
The petitioners say no corrective appointments were made. "As a consequence of this failure, there is currently no constitutional national executive and Cabinet of the Republic," the petition states, according to the Nation. The petitioners want Cabinet decisions made after the judgment declared invalid. They also want ministers to refund their pay and to be declared unfit for public office. In addition, they ask the court to suspend Executive Order No. 1 of 2025, which assigns ministers responsibility for implementing Acts of Parliament.
As evidence, the petitioners cite Kenya Gazette notices published on October 30. The notices show appointments made by Treasury CS John Mbadi, Health CS Aden Duale and Education CS Julius Ogamba, The Eastleigh Voice reported. According to the Nation, the appointments covered bodies such as the National Heroes Council, the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Board, universities and the Coffee Research and Training Institute.
The Attorney-General is named as the first respondent. Katiba Institute, the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Kenya are listed as interested parties. Separately, Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor is seeking to have the June 30 judgment suspended pending appeal. She argues that the ruling could disrupt Cabinet operations and that corrective action could still be taken if the judgment is upheld. The Court of Appeal has not yet ruled on her request, the Nation reported.