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Kenya High Court temporarily suspends establishment of the Presidential taskforce on forensic audit of public debt pending determination of a case filed by a Nakuru based doctor.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this Application, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the Executive Order No. 4 and/or Gazette Notice No. 8261 Vol. CXXVI-No 97 dated 5th July 2024 published for the establishing the PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON FORENSIC AUDIT OF PUBLIC DEBT, read the document in part.
Nakuru based doctor, Dr. Magare Gikenyi filed the petition terming the taskforce as an unconstitutional office
He further stated that the auditing the country’s public debt was a constitutional function of the Auditor General’s office.
In the petition, Dr. Gikenyi stated, “Further, the work of auditing public debt is a constitutionally mandated function of the Auditor-General and not any task force appointed by the executive or any other person.
“The Office on Public Debt Management, headed by a Director-General at the Treasury and funded by public money, should provide details of public debt to the Auditor-General for forensic audit by taking cognizance of article 201 of the constitution on the need to have prudent utilization of scarce public financial resources.”
In addition to issuing the conservatory order, the court gave an altimatum to the respondents in the case(Attorney General’s office and others) to file their responses within seven days from the date of the service.
The Presiding Judge further stated that further directions on the matter would be issued on July 23, 2024.
Following this directive, President Ruto’s directive to establish the 20-member taskforce remains in limbo until the case is determined.
In previous developments on the establishment of the Taskforce, the Law Society of Kenya had declined the appointment of their President Faith Odhiambo to the Taskforce .
The LSK through a statement issued on Saturday rejected the appointment citing unconstitutionality of the office, a sentiment reiterated by Dr. Gikenyi and other petitioners in the case.