Court to hear petition challenging Ruto-Sakaja cooperation deal

The High Court of Kenya has issued urgent directions in a constitutional petition challenging a new cooperation agreement between the National Government and the Nairobi City County Government.

These directions come just a day after the agreement was signed by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, representing the National Executive, and Governor Johnson Sakaja.

In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Justice Bahati Mwamuye certified the case—filed by petitioners Bernard Peter and Christine Gathoni—as urgent. The judge noted that the application specifically contests the legality of the February 17, 2026, agreement.

"Noting that the petitioners' application dated February 18, 2026, impugns the Cooperation Agreement between the National Executive and the Nairobi City County Government, the matter is hereby certified as urgent and shall be heard and determined on a priority basis," Justice Mwamuye directed.

The legal challenge names several high-profile respondents, including the Attorney General, the Prime Cabinet Secretary, the Nairobi Governor, the Nairobi City County Government, the County Assembly, and the Senate.

In their application, the petitioners, through their lawyer, argue that the impugned agreement is already in force, with implementation either underway or imminent. They contend that the arrangement establishes joint governance and implementation structures that may be operationalised at any time. This, they say, risks the commitment or expenditure of public funds without the approval of the Nairobi County Assembly or oversight by the Senate.

"That continued implementation risks altering the constitutional allocation of functions between the two levels of government before this Honourable Court has pronounced itself on the legality of the impugned arrangement," they argue in their court documents.

According to the petitioners, unless conservatory orders are issued urgently to suspend implementation of the agreement, the substratum of the petition could be rendered nugatory (of no value).

They warn that continued implementation could alter the constitutional allocation of functions between the national and county governments before the court pronounces itself on the legality of the arrangement. The matter, they argue, implicates the constitutional architecture of devolution—a foundational pillar of Kenya’s constitutional order—and is therefore of exceptional public importance warranting urgent judicial intervention.

The application will be heard through the highlighting of written submissions during a virtual session scheduled for March 16, 2026. The State had argued that the agreement seeks to improve service delivery in the capital city with the two levels working together in line with sections 5 and 6 of the Urban Areas and Cities Act.

The State House sent an invite to the media house to cover the event that oversaw the two centres of government ink the deal to jointly handle development and service delivery projects.