Blow to Ruto as High Court temporarily blocks establishment of National Infrastructure Fund
High Court has temporarily stopped the implementation of the National Infrastructure Fund following a constitutional petition challenging its legality.
The High Court has temporarily stopped the implementation of the National Infrastructure Fund following a constitutional petition challenging its legality.
This was after Dr Margaret Gikenyi, J Benjamin, Eliud Matindi and two others filled a petition challenging it’s implementation claiming that it violated the kenyan constitution.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye at the Milimani Law Court granted a conservatory order stopping the government from proceeding with the fund.
“Pending the inter parties hearing and determination of the Petitioners/Applicants’ Notice of Motion Application dated 16/12/2025, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued restraining the Respondents, jointly and severally, and whether directly or through their employees, servants, agents, or related entities; from establishing, incorporating, registering, operationalizing, funding, or howsoever otherwise giving effect to the impugned National Infrastructure Fund,” the judge stated.
They argue that the fund was created illegally through a State House communiqué, rather than through legislation passed by Parliament as required by the Constitution.
The petitioners contended that public funds can only be established by an Act of Parliament, warning that allowing the fund to proceed would amount to executive overreach and undermine constitutional safeguards on public finance.
Another issue that was raised is the government’s plan to register the fund as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). they argued that this structure would place trillions of shillings outside parliamentary oversight and beyond the routine audit mandate of the Auditor-General, creating what they describe as a “shadow treasury.” The petition also raises concerns about transparency, public participation, and the risk of unchecked financial mismanagement.
Additionally, the proposed use of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) savings as seed capital drew opposition from Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and other critics who warned that workers’ pension contributions cannot legally be diverted to infrastructure projects without National Assembly approval. They argued that such investments could expose retirement savings to high-risk ventures.
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The court restrained the respondents , including the Attorney General and the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, from establishing, incorporating, registering, operationalising, funding, or otherwise giving effect to the National Infrastructure Fund.
The government, however, had strongly defended the fund, describing it as the engine of Kenya’s transition into a first-world economy.
President William Ruto had stated that the NIF was designed to move the country away from debt-financed development by leveraging private capital from pension funds, insurance firms, and sovereign wealth funds, with every shilling of public money expected to attract up to ten shillings in private investment.
Before it was halted, the fund was also intended to finance transformative projects across agriculture, transport, and energy, including the construction of mega dams, expansion of road and rail networks, extension of the Standard Gauge Railway to the Ugandan border, and the addition of 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy.
The court scheduled a hearing to January 20, 2026, when it will decide whether the freeze remains in place or is lifted.
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