Kenya: High Court Nullifies Ruto's Public Debt Audit Task Force As Unconstitutional

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Capital FM report from Nairobi, said Kenya’s High Court has struck down President William Ruto’s Presidential Task Force on the Forensic Audit of Public Debt, ruling that its creation was unconstitutional. In a judgment delivered Thursday, Justice Lawrence Mugambi quashed Executive Order No. 4 of 2024, which had been issued through Gazette Notice No. 8261 on July 5, 2024.

According to the report, the court found that the President went beyond his constitutional powers by setting up a body whose work overlapped with the role of an independent constitutional office. Petitioners had challenged the task force on several grounds, arguing that it created a parallel structure for duties already assigned elsewhere, lacked public participation, and did not meet constitutional standards on merit, transparency and inclusivity in appointments.

The government’s position, as reported by Capital FM, was that the President had authority to create an advisory body to assist the Executive with policy formulation, coordination and implementation. Justice Mugambi rejected that argument in this case, holding that executive authority is broad but limited by the Constitution and remains open to review by the courts. The judgment referred to constitutional provisions including Articles 2, 129, 131, 132, 165 and 259.

The decision matters because it curbs a presidential initiative tied to scrutiny of Kenya’s public debt, a politically and economically sensitive issue. More broadly, it reinforces the role of independent constitutional offices and the judiciary’s power to invalidate executive action found to conflict with constitutional limits, while also touching on public participation and transparent appointments in state processes.