The High Court just threw back Aisha Jumwa’s appointment as Kenya Roads Board Chairperson, kind of a big one.
This Wednesday, the High Court delivered a landmark ruling saying the appointment of former Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa as Chairperson of the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) is unconstitutional, null, and void, like it never really stood properly.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye said the whole process didn’t meet the mandatory statutory requirements set out in the Kenya Roads Board Act. He found that the executive appointment process didn’t show the necessary compliance, not at the level needed for the legal framework under Section 7 of the act.
For sure, the court’s decision is being read as a direct rebuke of how appointments were handled, with the judges pointing out the process went against constitutional basics under Articles 10, 47, and 232.
Those provisions, as usual, demand that public appointments follow values around transparency, accountability, fairness, and administrative justice. Justice Mwamuye put it pretty clearly, noting that “legality flows from fidelity to the Constitution and the enabling law” and that if statutory steps are bypassed, the outcome can’t carry any lawful force.
The court also formally set aside Gazette Notice No. 384 of January 16, 2025, and Gazette Notice No. 395 of January 17, 2025, which had confirmed Jumwa’s term. By declaring the appointment “void ab initio” — basically saying the appointment was legally dead from the beginning — the court has, in effect, removed any legitimacy from that position.
This decision kind of marks the end of months of public and professional outcry, you know? Ever since her appointment back in January 2025, several stakeholders, including the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK), have been pushing back, challenging the move, sort of.
They argued that Jumwa, well, did not satisfy the specialized conditions set out under the KRB Act. The critics also held the view that the position basically required a chairperson with the right technical know-how, either in engineering itself or at least infrastructure management experience, so the board could carry out its core mandate properly without stumbling.
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