Key facts
- A Kenyan court has declared President William Ruto's Executive Order No. 4 of 2024 unconstitutional.
- The court found that the Presidential Task Force on the Forensic Audit of Public Debt unlawfully duplicated the functions of the Auditor General.
- The task force was mandated to verify Kenya's public debt, review loan proceeds, and assess value for money in financed projects.
- The court cited Articles 2, 129, 131, 132, 165, 229, 248(3)(a), 201(a), 229(4)(g), and 254 of the Constitution.
- The ruling stated that the President cannot reassign express constitutional mandates vested on the Auditor General by executive fiat.
A Kenyan court has declared President William Ruto's plan to establish a task force for a forensic audit of public debt unconstitutional. The High Court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi, found that Executive Order No. 4 of 2024 unlawfully duplicated the constitutional mandate of the Auditor General.
The court stated that the President cannot, by executive fiat, reassign express constitutional mandates vested on the Auditor General. The task force was mandated to verify Kenya's public debt, reconcile loan proceeds, review debt servicing, assess value for money in projects financed through borrowing, and evaluate public financial management systems.
The petitioners had argued that the task force's functions were substantially audit-oriented and mirrored those assigned to the Auditor General under Article 229 of the Constitution. They also contended that the task force was created without public participation and that its appointment failed to meet constitutional standards.
The court emphasized that while the President has broad executive authority, those powers must be exercised within constitutional limits, and all executive actions are subject to judicial review. The ruling declared Executive Order No. 4 of 2024 and the associated Gazette Notice No. 8261 of July 5, 2024, unconstitutional, null, and void for violating several articles of the Constitution.