Ruto faces legal hurdle after disobeying court on gender-balanced Cabinet

The High Court in July ordered the President to reconstitute his Cabinet within 120 days after finding that only 7 members are women out of 25 members.

This meant that women only hold 28% of the positions, falling short of the mandatory 33.3% minimum and that two women would need to be added.

Katiba Institute, together with other petitioners, challenged the composition of the Cabinet, arguing that the Executive had a clear responsibility to comply with the Constitution’s gender principle when nominating Cabinet members. 

This period lapsed on October 28, 2026, putting the Head of State at loggerheads with the law and even risking losing his Cabinet on grounds of illegality.

Legal experts have opined that the Cabinet is now unconstitutional and President Ruto is heading a team that is not recognised by law.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Charles Kanjama holds that President Ruto's 25-member team will remain illegal and its power to make decisions is crippled

"It means any Cabinet decision or action is liable to be declared null and void and of no legal effect," he told Citizen Digital.

Former LSK boss Eric Theuri opines that President Ruto must comply with the court ruling or face running a feckless Cabinet.

"It is not a Cabinet recognized by law. If it operates as such, they would be operating under a constitutional breach," Theuri noted.

"Everything it does between now and the 2027 General Election is subject to legal challenge and any payment made to Cabinet Secretaries is liable to challenge."

The President can be liable for contempt of court if a petitioner moves to court to challenge the failure to comply.

Katiba Institute's counsel Joshua Nyawa argues that since the President cannot be sued, a petition can be moved against the Attorney General.

"Even if he is in contempt of court, the only person who can be sued is the Attorney General. The effect is to put the President liable for contempt of court," he said.

The Supreme Court of Kenya ruled in the March 2022 Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) judgment that a sitting president cannot be sued in civil proceedings during their tenure of office under Article 143(2) of the Constitution.

President Ruto can opt to move to court to seek an extension but faces an uphill task to receive a green light.

"He can go to court but will have a very hard time convincing the court on why he did not appeal in the provided time," said Theuri.

If reconstituted, President Ruto will be making a second major change to his cabinet, as he dismissed his entire cabinet on July 11, 2024, after Gen Z protests against the Finance Bill that proposed unbearable taxes.

He only retained Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi before onboarding new members and reassigning a few.