President William Ruto faces a court directive to reconstitute his Cabinet to meet the constitutional gender threshold.
The Court of Appeal leaves the High Court directive in force after President William Ruto misses the October 28 deadline to change his Cabinet.
The Court of Appeal has rejected a government bid to suspend a Cabinet gender rule compliance order. The decision leaves President William Ruto under a High Court directive to reconstitute his Cabinet.
In its October 29 ruling, the appellate court also directed Attorney General Dorcas Oduor to serve court papers. The matter remains before the court.
The government had sought to halt implementation while pursuing its appeal against the High Court ruling. However, the appellate court declined that request after the 120-day compliance period expired on October 28, 2026.
Cabinet gender rule requires at least nine women
On June 30, Justices Eric Ogola, Stephen Githinji and Jairus Ngaah found that the Cabinet breached the constitutional gender requirement. Article 27(8) provides that no more than two-thirds of its members should be of the same gender.
The judges counted seven women and 18 men in the 25-member Cabinet, putting female representation at 28 per cent. That membership included the President, Deputy President, Attorney General and Cabinet Secretaries.
To meet the constitutional threshold, the court determined that at least nine Cabinet members needed to be women. It therefore gave Ruto 120 days to make appointments that complied with the requirement.
However, the deadline passed without the required changes, leaving the gender composition at the centre of the continuing court dispute.
Ruto described compliance as gradual
The dispute began with a High Court petition challenging aspects of the Cabinet following its dissolution in July 2024. Ruto had dissolved the Cabinet amid nationwide anti-government protests.
Although the High Court upheld the legality of several appointments, it found that the gender balance fell below the constitutional standard. It consequently ordered the President to reconstitute the Cabinet.
In July 2026, Ruto addressed the issue during Katiba Day celebrations at the KICC in Nairobi. He compared the Cabinet’s position with Parliament’s constitutional compliance challenges and described reform as a gradual process.
The President argued that compliance might not happen immediately, characterising it as work in progress. However, the latest appellate decision leaves the High Court’s directive in force as the appeal continues.
