The High Court Wednesday suspended the operations of President William Ruto’s newly created Presidential Multi-Agency Team on War Against Corruption (MAT-WAC) following a petition filed by human rights activists.
In the petition filed before the Constitutional and Human Rights Division at Milimani, the activists Dr. Magare-Gikenyi B., Eliud Karanja Matindi, Philemon Abuga Nyakundi and Dishon Keroti Mogire sued the Presidential Multi-Agency Team, the Attorney-General and ten other state agencies, arguing that the team is unconstitutional, illegal and a duplication of existing institutions.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye granted interim conservatory orders staying the implementation of the presidential proclamation that established MAT-WAC.
The judge directed that the order would remain in force pending the hearing and determination of the petitioners’ application.
“The conservatory order is hereby issued staying the operation and implementation of, or the further operation and/or further implementation of, the ‘Presidential Proclamation on the Establishment of Multi-Agency Team on War Against Corruption’ issued under the hand and the seal of the President of the Republic on 18th August 2025,” said Mwamuye.
The court also directed the petitioners to serve the respondents with the application, petition and orders immediately, while the respondents were given until August 29 to file their responses.
The matter will be mentioned on September 9, 2025 virtually, to confirm compliance and set timelines for expedited hearing and determination within 90 days.
The activists argue that the President has no constitutional authority to create an anti-corruption body, insisting that such powers lie with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and other statutory agencies.
They further claimed that the team undermines the independence of those institutions, violates the principle of separation of powers, and risks misuse of public funds through its ambiguous funding structure.
They argued that under Article 132 of the Constitution, the President has no powers to establish an anti-corruption agency, with such functions reserved for independent commissions and statutory bodies.
The petitioners described the powers claimed by the President as “imaginary hot air mirage powers which do not exist in our progressive constitution.”
“The president does not have powers to establish any anti-corruption agency whatsoever. The so called powers are just ‘imaginary hot air mirage powers’ which do not exist in our progressive constitution,” read the court documents.
The activists further claimed that placing the team under the Office of the President undermines transparency, accountability, and the principle of separation of powers.
The petition also raised concerns over funding and composition of the team, arguing that its budget is to be drawn from allocations of member agencies and unspecified “other sources,” a move they say breaches constitutional provisions on public finance.
“Other than the President, nobody knows what ‘other sources’ means,” the activists argued.
They accuse the Executive of exposing confidential public data to private actors, arbitrarily picking public servants without merit-based processes, and duplicating the statutory roles of existing agencies.
The petitioners sought orders suspending MAT-WAC, barring it from compiling or implementing any reports, and to declare the presidential proclamation unconstitutional, null and void.
They maintained that unless the court intervenes urgently, the team could be used for political witch-hunts in the current charged political climate, undermine independent institutions, and waste public resources.
“The supremacy of the Constitution is at stake. Public money will be lost with no probability of recovering the same, and constitutional violations will continue,” the petition reads in part.
In the petition, they have sued the Presidential Multi-Agency Team, the Attorney-General, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the Central Bank of Kenya, the National Intelligence Service, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Financial Reporting Centre, the Asset Recovery Agency, the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
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