Tuesday, February 16, 2021 – The High Court has halted the takeover of the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) by the Ministry of Defence, an order that had been issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In his ruling yesterday, Judge Antony Charo Mrima cited irregularities in the president’s order citing the lack of public participation.
“The decision to re-assign the ministerial responsibility from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation to the Ministry of Defence is in violation of Article 10 of the Constitution for want of Public participation succeeds,” read the ruling in part.
The court also said that the decision could only be effected through an amendment of the Kenya Meat Commission Act which was last revised in 2012.
The judge also noted that by executing the president’s order, the government would be commercializing the Ministry of Defence which is contrary to the Constitution.
Mrima gave the government 90 days to regularize the situation as the order had already been implemented and budgetary allocation processed.
Following these reasons, the court thereby quashed Executive order number 3 of 2020.
The president’s preference for military leadership manifested in 2020 during the pandemic when he formed the Nairobi Metropolitan Service headed by General Mohamed Abdalla Badi.
The NMS boss has been running the county’s key functions which were also affected by the impeachment of former governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko in December 2020.
The president has turned to the military in his last term in office to complete his legacy projects.
The president has in the past placed military personnel strategically at the Kenya Railways Corporations, Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
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