Operation Linda Jamii has filed a Petition at the High Court challenging what they call “the President’s unconstitutional exercise of state authority in the creation and appointment of Musalia Mudavadi as the Prime Cabinet Secretary, whose functions as spelt out in the Executive Order No. 1 of 2023 altering the Basic Structure of the Constitution contrary to the law.”
The Petition also challenges the President’s cabinet-level appointments of Harriette Chiggai as the CS President’s Women rights advisor and Monica Kathina Juma CS President’s National Security advisor positions which the lobby group claimed are not contemplated in the constitution and which are thus “unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional.”
The petitioners also challenges the entire constitutive composition of the cabinet of the Republic of Kenya for failing to comply with the constitutional dictates on gender balance, inclusion of persons living with disability and the youth.
The Petitioner pleads that with the representation of the composition of the cabinet and the President and Deputy President who are all male, the cabinet as presently constituted fails to comply with the constitutional gender principle that not more than two-thirds of elective and appointive bodies should comprise of the same gender.
The Petitioner pleads further that cabinet as presently constituted does not comprise of at least 5% of persons living with disabilities thus violative of the constitution and principles of affirmative action entrenched in the constitution.
“The foregoing notwithstanding, the creation of the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary to assist the President and the Deputy President in the day-to-day running of the government is akin to creating a second office of the Deputy President, who by law is the ONLY assistant to the President.” reads court documents.
Consequently, the Petitioner avers that the creation of the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary is unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful since the creation of the said office is tantamount to amending and/or altering the basic structure of the executive arm of the government by creating two principal assistants to the President in violation of Article 147(1) of the Constitution.
