Ruto Faces First Hurdle Hours After Announcing Anti-Corruption Team

Less than a day after President William Ruto announced the formation of a multi-agency team, including the National Intelligence Service and other state bodies, to fight corruption, a petition has been filed challenging the President’s decision.
Nakuru-based surgeon Dr Magare Gikenyi, together with three other petitioners, has moved to court challenging Ruto’s recent decision, arguing that the Head of State acted outside his constitutional mandate in creating the new body.
In documents filed before the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court in Nairobi, the petitioners, Dr Gikenyi, Eliud Karanja Matindi, Philemon Abuga Nyakundi, and Dishon Keroti Mogire, are seeking orders declaring the Presidential Multi-Agency Team on the War Against Corruption (MAT-WAC), established on Tuesday, unlawful, irregular, and unconstitutional.
The four contend that the proclamation made by President Ruto on August 18, 2025, lacks any constitutional or legal foundation.
They insist that the Constitution does not grant the President authority to create an anti-corruption agency, a function they say is exclusively reserved for independent institutions.
According to the petitioners, Article 132(4) of the Constitution only allows the President to perform executive functions explicitly provided for in law and, where necessary, establish an office in the public service, but only with the recommendation of the Public Service Commission.
More to follow…