High Court declines urgent hearing of Omtatah bid to bar Ruto’s Cabinet
The High Court has refused to certify as urgent a petition by Senator Okiya Omtatah and two activists to bar 25 executive members from office. They say Ruto missed a 120-day deadline to fix the Cabinet's gender balance, which expired on October 28.
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…
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