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

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Capital FM report by Irene Mwangi, reported that Kenya’s High Court has struck down President William Ruto’s Presidential Task Force on the Forensic Audit of Public Debt. In a judgment delivered Thursday, Justice Lawrence Mugambi found that Executive Order No. 4 of 2024, published through Gazette Notice No. 8261 on July 5, 2024, was unconstitutional because it created a body whose work duplicated the mandate of an independent constitutional office.

The case challenged the President’s authority to establish the task force. According to the report, petitioners argued that the order set up a parallel institution to perform duties already assigned under the Constitution. They also said the process lacked public participation and that appointments to the task force did not satisfy constitutional standards on merit, transparency and inclusivity. The government countered that the President was acting within his executive powers by forming an advisory body to help with policy, coordination and implementation.

Justice Mugambi ruled that presidential authority is broad but not unlimited, and that executive actions must remain within constitutional boundaries. The report said the judge cited several constitutional provisions, including Articles 2, 129, 131, 132, 165 and 259, and stressed that courts may intervene when executive action breaches the Constitution while still respecting separation of powers.

The court quashed the executive order and declared the task force unconstitutional, invalid and an unlawful duplication of an independent office’s functions. The decision matters because it limits how the Executive can structure reviews of public debt and reinforces judicial oversight of presidential action in Kenya’s governance framework.