Court extends suspension of public debt audit taskforce

President William Ruto in Laikipia west during his tour of the Mt. Kenya region on April 1,2025. [Kipsang Joseph]

High Court has extended orders suspending the establishment of the Presidential taskforce for the forensic audit of the country's public debt.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi extended the orders on Thursday pending the hearing of a case filed by Nakuru-based doctor Magare Gikenyi and activist Eliud Matindi.

The case will be heard on May 28, 2025.

Justice Mugambi also gave the Attorney General and other respondents a final chance to respond to the lawsuit.

This comes after it emerged that the government had not filed its responses and other necessary pleadings ahead of the hearing.

The case was delayed again when the court decided to consolidate it with a similar matter, Petition Number E476 of 2021, which also seeks to quash the formation of the taskforce.

"The matter herein is taken out of the hearing list for today. All parties are to comply with the service of pleadings. The deputy registrar of the High Court is directed to cause the rearrangement of the parties in view of the consolidation of the two cases by close of business today. The interim orders herein are extended until May 28, 2025," Justice Mugambi ruled.

In the case, the petitioners argue that auditing public debt is a constitutionally mandated function of the Auditor General, not a task force appointed by the Executive or any other individual.

In June last year, President William Ruto appointed the Presidential Taskforce on Forensic Audit of Public Debt through Executive Order No. 4.

The task force was part of austerity measures following the President's withdrawal of the contentious Finance Bill 2024. Its purpose was to audit public debt within 90 days and report back to the President.

However, the petitioners told the court that the President's actions usurped the mandate of the independent office of the Auditor General.

They argued that this made the task force unconstitutional and that any further action would undermine public confidence and lead to potential abuse of political power.

"The office of the Auditor-General is independent. Duplicating roles is a waste of scarce public resources since the task force will essentially be performing the roles of existing public offices, contrary to the constitution," the petitioners said.