NAIROBI, Kenya – The High Court has suspended the swearing-in of four individuals appointed by ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo to the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) board, pending the outcome of a petition challenging the legality of their appointments.
The appointees—veteran journalist Maina Muiruri, Susan Karago, Timothy Wanyonyi, and Tabitha Mutemi—were named in a gazette notice dated July 25, 2025, to serve for a three-year term.
However, petitioners Issa Alenyi, Patrick Karani, and Paul Ngwenywo contend that the appointments were made prematurely and in violation of the Media Council Act 2023.
In court documents, the petitioners argue that the selection panel tasked with recruiting new board members had not concluded its vetting process, rendering the CS’s appointments irregular and unlawful.
“The Cabinet Secretary’s decision to appoint persons whose candidature is still under consideration by the selection panel, and to do so before the panel concludes its work, patently violates the Media Council Act and short-circuits the legal process,” the petition states.
They claim that under the law, the selection panel must advertise vacancies, conduct interviews, and forward suitable names to the Cabinet Secretary for formal appointment—a process they say was bypassed.
Legal Process Undermined?
According to the petitioners, public funds were allocated to support the panel’s operations, and yet none of the appointees emerged from the ongoing process.
They note that while the panel had nearly completed its work in 2023, two separate lawsuits filed by James Mutahi and Robert Ochieng had stalled progress, prompting procedural delays—not termination.
The petition also takes issue with the content of the same gazette notice, which simultaneously announced the appointments and declared vacancies on the board—a move they termed “contradictory and irregular.”
“The CS cannot act on his initiative. He is legally bound to consider only the names forwarded to him by the panel,” the petitioners argue.
They further warn that the appointments set a dangerous precedent by allowing a Cabinet Secretary to bypass established processes and handpick individuals—potentially for political loyalty—without public scrutiny.
Request for Court Intervention
Alenyi, Karani, and Ngwenywo have asked the court to:
- Suspend the gazette notice until the petition is fully heard and determined
- Bar Muiruri, Karago, Wanyonyi, and Mutemi from taking the oath of office or executing any board functions
- Restrain MCK CEO David Omwoyo from making decisions requiring board approval during the legal dispute
The court’s decision now throws the composition of the MCK board into uncertainty at a time when media regulation and digital policy are increasingly under the spotlight, with Kenya recently adopting new media codes governing AI use and child protection.
