The High Court in Nyandarua has revoked the charter granting Mairo Inya Trading Centre municipality status, ruling that the process lacked genuine public participation.
Justice Kiarie Waweru Kiarie said the respondents had reduced the constitutional requirement for public participation to a mere formality.
He allowed a petition filed by John Gichuki Mutahi, Mwajuma Auma Juma and Patrick Wanjohi Ndungu on behalf of 167 members of the Mairo Inya Business Community.
The dispute arose in July 2025, when residents learnt through public announcements of a meeting scheduled for July 30, 2025, at Catholic Hall. At the meeting, they discovered that the centre had already been upgraded to municipal status.
The petitioners argued that there was no written request to the Cabinet Secretary to appoint an ad hoc committee to define the municipality’s boundaries.
They also challenged the appointment of municipal manager Rachael Wambui Nderitu, arguing that she was conflicted because she is married to the sitting MCA for Leshau Pondo Ward.
"On attending the meeting, they were shocked to learn that Mairo Inya Centre had already been upgraded to municipal status without their knowledge or public participation," the petitioners stated in their pleadings.
They asked the court to quash the Kenya Gazette notice granting the charter and declare the conferment of municipal status null and void.
They also sought an order abolishing the office of the Municipal Manager and quashing Gazette Notice No 15977, dated November 24, 2023, which appointed board members.
Alternatively, they asked the court to suspend the municipality's status until the services listed in the First Schedule of the Urban Areas and Cities Act were provided.
The respondents, including the Nyandarua Governor, the county government and the County Assembly, maintained that the process followed the law.
They said a notice was published in the Daily Nation on March 9, 2023, and a public participation forum held at St Martin Hall in Kiriita Ward on March 16, 2023.
They added that an ad hoc committee had been appointed to define the boundaries and that the Municipal Manager was appointed on merit.
"The allegation contained in the petition to the effect that there was no public participation is false, misleading and made in bad faith," the respondents stated in their reply.
However, Justice Kiarie noted that only 42 people signed the attendance list for a proposed municipality covering about 208 square kilometres across Kiriita and Leshau Pondo wards.
Citing the Supreme Court's framework in British American Tobacco Kenya PLC v Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Health, the judge said public participation must be genuine and not merely symbolic. He noted that it must meet both quantitative and qualitative requirements.
The court also found that the respondents had failed to address concerns raised by the petitioners about inadequate amenities, including the lack of toilet facilities at the trading centre. The judge concluded that the petitioners’ concerns were valid.
"The insufficient notice transformed the entire process into a merely academic exercise, with respondents mainly interested in ticking boxes," Justice Kiarie ruled.
The court ordered each party to bear its own costs, noting that the case was in public interest.
