LSK sues over leadership and integrity standards for politicians
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) moved to court accusing state institutions of failing to uphold leadership and integrity standards for politicians.
In a petition filed before the High Court, LSK who have sued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Registrar of Political Parties (RPP), the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), and the Attorney General argue that for the past 15 years since the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, the six institutions have failed to create and enforce proper codes of conduct to vet and regulate individuals seeking or holding elective office.
According to the petition, IEBC had neglected its duty as the primary gatekeeper of the electoral process by admitting candidates whose integrity does not meet the thresholds of Chapter Six of the Constitution.
LSK further accused the Registrar of Political Parties of failing to ensure that political parties funded by public money uphold ethics, transparency, and internal accountability.
The lawyer body claimed that the inaction of all the respondents has allowed individuals with questionable integrity to dominate elective politics.
“The Respondents’ refusal and/or failure to set up, exercise, or even act in any legally demonstrative way actively created and continues to actively breed a culture zero accountability and repercussions, let alone the availing of opportunity for the public to demonstrate the culpability of individuals violating the Code of Conduct in Schedule 1 of the Political Parties Act, despite that logical conclusion being singly that the violating parties and party members being found unfit to hold public office,” read the court documents.
LSK now wants the court to declare that Kenyans have a right to submit information on the integrity of aspirants and elected leaders, and that such information, once verified, should be treated as conclusive proof of misconduct.
They also want institutions compelled to act on integrity complaints within 20 days, failure to which such claims would be deemed validated.
Additionally, the petition asks the court to bar PSC and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission from paying salaries and allowances to any elected leader found to have violated integrity standards.
“An Order that the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 3rd Respondents implement their statutory duties to craft a code of conduct to regulate political conduct within the context of elevation that the Constitution 2010 and flowing statutes provide to contextualize the Public Officer Ethics Code of Conduct into a document whose (already present and improvable) actionable sanctions by the Office of Director of Public Prosecution can be actioned through the powers given to the 2nd and 3rd Respondents in their delegated authority to: investigate on their own motion, directly prosecute, or otherwise police the electoral sphere,” read the court documents.
In particular, the petition seeks that the institutions charged with upholding Chapter 6 undertake their mandate diligently, set up a code of conduct to regulate political conduct by elected individuals, and that any political leader proved to be in breach of their integrity obligations be deprived of any benefit from public resources.
This petition recognises and responds to the need to disrupt the unchecked corruption that has become characteristic of Kenya’s political scene.
“The accountability and integrity requirements under our Constitution are key to the standard of governance contemplated by the people of Kenya,” LSK said.
The petition will be mentioned for directions on September 29, 2025.