The High Court has extended the orders suspending the formation of the presidential task force for the forensic audit of public debt. Justice Lawrence Mugambi has also approved a request from the petitioners, Dr. Magare Gikenyi and Eliud Matindi, to serve certain respondents via a national newspaper advertisement.
This measure comes after the court was informed that some respondents had not been personally served with the petition.
The respondents to be served include Auditor General Nancy Onyango, Prof. Luis Franceschi, Engineer Shammah Kiteme, Vincent Kimosop, the Institute of Engineers of Kenya, Dr. Abraham Rugo, and Dr. Aaron Thegeya.
Additionally, interested parties such as the Controller of Budget, Katiba Institute, Kituo Cha Sheria, and Operation Linda Jamii will also be served through the advertisement.
The court’s orders are extended until September 18, when further directions in the case will be provided. The orders were initially issued earlier this month after the petitioners argued that auditing public debt is a constitutional responsibility of the Auditor General, not a task force appointed by the executive.
The presidential task force was established through Executive Order No. 4 as part of austerity measures following President William Ruto’s withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024. The task force was tasked with auditing public debt within 90 days and reporting to the President.
The petitioners argue that this move encroaches on the Auditor General’s mandate and could undermine public confidence and constitute a misuse 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 roles of existing public offices, contrary to the constitution,” they said.
