Ruto should obey court order on gender balance

President William Ruto. [PCS]

The Court of Appeal recently declined to suspend the High Court order requiring President William Ruto to reconstitute his Cabinet in line with Article 27(8) of the Constitution. The Article bars any appointive public body from having more than two-thirds of its members being of one gender.

Dr Ruto’s 25-member Cabinet has seven women, two short of the nine required by the law. Clearly, this is not a matter of interpretation. It is a plain constitutional requirement that the Head of State has deliberately failed to meet.

In 2012, the Supreme Court, in an advisory opinion sought by the Attorney General, held that the two-thirds principle would be realised progressively and set August 27, 2015, as the deadline for Parliament to enact enabling legislation.

Parliament missed that date, and an extension to 2016 also lapsed. Petitions followed in the High Court, which ordered Parliament to act. In 2020, the Chief Justice advised the President to dissolve Parliament, but the High Court suspended that advice. This year, the High Court declined to dissolve Parliament on procedural grounds but affirmed that the obligation persists.

In a petition by Katiba Institute and others, a three-judge bench declared the Cabinet unconstitutional on June 30, 2026. It held that the rule was immediate, mandatory and enforceable, and gave the President 120 days to comply. That period expired on October 28, and the Court of Appeal has since declined to suspend the order.

Ruto swore to uphold the Constitution. That oath does not permit him to apply the law selectively, or to wait for the courts to remind him of his duty. Cabinet appointments are within his own power, and compliance requires no new legislation. Women deserve their rightful share in the Cabinet and must be facilitated to take it.

The Law Society of Kenya has already stated that the Cabinet is illegal and that its decisions are open to challenge. Further litigation, including contempt proceedings, is foreseeable and avoidable. The President should act now to reconstitute the Cabinet in line with Article 27(8), end the legal uncertainty, and demonstrate leadership.