High Court judge Francis Rayella Ollel has today March 21,2025 declared sections of the East African Development Bank Act, as amended in 2014, unconstitutional due to insufficient public participation in its formulation, ordering The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, to submit records of all payments made from the Consolidated Fund to the EADB since 2014 within 60days.
The court found that Sections 2(1) and 2(2) of the Act, which grant the Treasury CS authority to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund without parliamentary oversight, violate constitutional principles of transparency, good governance, and accountability.
Justice Ollel’s ruling was issued in response to a petition filed in May 2023 by Paul Lihanda, represented by lawyer Gregory Ndege.
The court ruling comes after Yesterday’s order by Machakos judge, also directing the Auditor General to conduct a thorough audit of all funds withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund for EADB since 2014.
The judge further ordered that the audit report must also be submitted to within 60 days to the parliament.
Lihanda’s May 2023 petition argued that the Treasury CS had unlawfully withdrawn public funds without Senate or parliamentary approval, undermining accountability and transparency. The court ruled that his rights had been violated as a result of these actions.
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