Kenya executive‑judicial clash over institutions

In mid‑July 2026 Kenya’s High Court issued conservatory orders that halted President William Ruto’s Executive Order No. 2 of 2023, which sought to place the Independent Policing Oversight Authority under the Ministry of Interior. The ruling preserved the IPOA’s constitutional independence while a related petition proceeds. The same judgment upheld the Railway Development Levy, a 2 percent import charge funding rail expansion, but found its use for the Nairobi Commuter Rail premature and ordered a transparent tender within 90 days.

A week later, former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u publicly condemned Ruto’s pattern of micromanaging government bodies, arguing that such interference creates a climate of fear and erodes the autonomy of constitutional agencies. Ndung’u cited past legal disputes involving the Central Bank and a threatened derailment of the mobile‑money platform M‑Pay, underscoring broader concerns about executive overreach.

In late July, Ndung’u reiterated the critique at a forum in Sweden titled “What Aid Can Do and Cannot Do”. He warned that Ruto’s overrunning of institutions forces civil servants to act out of fear, contrasted the current administration with the Kibaki era when agencies were better protected, and again stressed his personal refusal to engage in questionable financial deals while serving as Treasury Cabinet Secretary. These repeated statements amplified the debate over institutional independence and highlighted the growing contest between the presidency and Kenya’s constitutional framework over the limits of executive power.