Governors in court to challenge ban on flying flag

Governors have moved to court to challenge a new law banning them from flying the national flag on their official vehicles.

The county bosses want the High Court to declare the provision in the National Flag, Emblems and Names (Amendment) Act 2014 unconstitutional.

They filed the suit Wednesday in a bid to overturn the decision by Members of Parliament to deny them the privilege. President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the law on June 26, prohibiting governors from flying the national flag on their official cars within the country.

Initially, MPs had also stripped Cabinet secretaries of the privilege but the President returned the Bill to Parliament with a recommendation to remove the clause. MPs agreed with the Presidential memorandum.

Wednesday, the Council of Governors, in an application under a certificate of urgency by their lawyer Peter Wanyama, sought to halt implementation of the legislation.

Exclusive powers

"The petitioner states that in view of the nature of the national flag and also in the framework of devolution of power and resources as outlined in the Constitution, the national government cannot appropriate itself the exclusive powers to determine the use of the national flag because it is not a property of the national government," the petition before Justice Isaac Lenaola read in part.