The court application seeks to halt Cabinet operations over compliance with the two-thirds gender rule.
Five organisations seek to halt Cabinet operations and pay over President William Ruto’s failure to meet the court’s gender-rule deadline.
The High Court has certified as urgent an application seeking to freeze Cabinet salaries and suspend its operations. The application follows President William Ruto’s failure to reconstitute his Cabinet within a court-ordered 120-day period.
Judges had directed the President to bring the Cabinet into compliance with the two-thirds gender rule. The petitioners now seek restrictions on Cabinet duties and spending until he complies.
Katiba Institute, CREAW and Transparency International Kenya filed the application alongside CRAWN Trust and Women’s March Kenya.
Petitioners seek restrictions on Cabinet salaries and duties
The organisations want the court to stop Cabinet Secretaries from carrying out their official duties until the President meets the order. They also seek restrictions on the Secretary to the Cabinet’s role in supporting Executive business.
Specifically, they want to bar the Secretary from convening Cabinet meetings, recording decisions and communicating Executive resolutions. The requests therefore extend beyond individual ministers’ duties to the administration of Cabinet business.
In addition, the petitioners want the Controller of Budget to stop approving Cabinet Secretaries’ salaries and benefits. They also seek to block authorisation of expenditure on Cabinet business from October 28, 2026, which they cite as the expiry of the compliance deadline.
