The Law Society of Kenya has filed a case against President Uhuru Kenyatta's order that sought to place the Judiciary, commissions as well as independent offices under ministries and government departments.
According to Daily Nation, lawyers Manwa Hosea and Arnold Ochieng, stated that the executive order was unconstitutional.
They argued that the executive cannot assign functions to other arms and independent commissions.
Additionally, LSK claimed that the order went against the principles of the doctrine of separation of powers, democracy and independence of constitutional offices.
“Where the law exhaustively provides for the jurisdiction of a body or an authority, it must operate within the limits of the law and ought not to expand its jurisdiction through administrative crafts or innovation,” LSK stated.
The body now wants the High Court to suspend the implementation of the executive order.
LSK added that the order impaired the independence of the Judiciary, commissions and independent offices.
The Attorney General and the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua have been listed as the respondents in the case.
Some of the institutions that may be affected by the order include; the Judiciary, the Public Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission, the National Police Service Commission, the Parliamentary Service Commission, the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions, the National Land Commission and the Office of the Controller of Budget.
Others include; Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Commission on Revenue Allocation, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights as well as the National Gender and Equality Commission.
