By Andrew Mbuva
The High Court has refused to freeze Parliament’s fast-moving bid to anchor three powerful funds—the National Government Constituencies Fund (NG-CF), the Affirmative Action Fund and the Senate Oversight Fund—directly into Kenya’s Constitution.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Thursday declined to grant conservatory orders that would have paused debate on the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The proposed law recently completed nationwide public-participation sessions and is now hurtling through the legislative pipeline.
Parliament, represented by the National Assembly, had slammed the petition—filed by Katiba Institute, the Kenya Human Rights Commission and three others—as an attempt to “arm-twist” lawmakers and derail their exclusive constitutional mandate under Articles 95 and 256.
“The petition improperly seeks to hijack the National Assembly’s authority to initiate constitutional amendments,” the House argued, insisting that challengers still have full opportunity to air their objections through public-participation channels.
The National Assembly further claimed the suit violated Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution by trying to override the people’s sovereign power as exercised through Parliament.
Justice Mugambi agreed that no emergency stay was warranted, noting that “all parties are already before the court.” He left the door open for future injunctive relief, saying the question of conservatory orders could be revisited when the case is mentioned on June 5, 2025, the date set for further directions.
Besides the National Assembly, the Attorney General, the Senate and the Controller of Budget are also named as respondents.
For now, the controversial Bill barrels onward—unless the court changes course at the next hearing, the legislative clash over entrenched constituency cash is far from over.
