President William Ruto has suffered a fresh blow following a ruling by the High Court declaring his move to form a 23-member presidential task force chaired by former Chief Justice David Maraga to review police welfare unconstitutional.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Thursday, April 10, ruled that President Ruto’s move to establish the national task force, was illegal as it violated constitutional provisions.
Further, Justice Mugambi ruled that, since the task force is unconstitutional, any decisions or actions made by it are likewise invalid.
“A declaration is hereby issued that the decision by the President of the Republic of Kenya to establish the task force on the improvement of terms and conditions, as well as other matters concerning members of the National Police Service and the Kenya Prisons Service, and to confer upon it specific roles that fall under the mandate of the NPSC, is unconstitutional, null, and void,” the ruling reads in part.
“I concur with the petitioner, and therefore, this court suspends the operations of the task force and the gazette notice that established it.”
Petition
The ruling comes after a petition was filed in 2023 to challenge President Ruto’s decision to establish the task force to review the welfare of police officers.
In his petition, Nakuru-based medic Dr. Magare Gikenyi argued that the Head of State usurped the role of the National Police Service Commission (NSPC), and therefore, the task force was illegal and unconstitutional.
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According to Dr. Gikenyi, the mandate given to the task force is constitutionally a mandate of the NPSC and not “politically and executive-initiated taskforces.”
“It is the NPSC that is supposed to establish the said task force and not the President. The President can establish any other task force but not the task force on independent commissions,” Gikenyi argued.
The petitioner also contended that the constitution does not envisage a situation where the President directs the working of an independent commission, in this case, the NPSC.
President Ruto had in December 2022 formed the taskforce, which was chaired by retired Chief Justice David Maraga, to “push for the much sought after reforms.”
Maraga Taskforce Reforms
The taskforce in its report handed over to the President in November 2023 recommended far-reaching implications to the National Police Service, the Prisons Service and the National Youth Service (NYS).
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Deputy President Kithure Kindiki who was at the time serving as the Interior Cabinet Secretary said that the recommendations included logistics, mobility, and equipment to be used by the three services in a bid to enhance their work and streamline service delivery to the public.
The report identified specific issues such as political interference in the Police Service, corruption in employment and promotions, police training curriculum, an inadequate NPSC, the role of Interior CS and structure of the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) in the police.
While presenting the report, Maraga called for political goodwill in the implementation of the recommendations saying similar proposals were previously made but never implemented.
“It also became clear that the reform recommendations stand little chance of being implemented if the leadership issues are not addressed,” the retired Chief Justice said.
President Ruto and the Ministry of Interior committed to ensure the taskforce report is implemented, a move that was welcomed by security sector players.
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