The National Assembly was on Friday, May 2, taken to court by the Katiba Institute and other civil society organisations over the recent plan to amend the Constitution through the introduction of three contentious funds.
Through a press release, Katiba announced it had filed a petition at the High Court challenging the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2025, that seeks to introduce the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), the Senate Oversight Fund (SOF), and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
In its petition, Katiba Institute argued that the entire Bill is constitutionally superfluous, and the funds it seeks to create are inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. "The Bill and any associated processes, including the scheduled public participation, are unnecessary and violate the Constitutional requirement for prudence and responsibility in public spending," Katiba argued.
Also, Katiba argued that provisions of the Bill would need to be approved in a referendum. "Therefore, Parliament should be compelled to enact a referendum law, which it has failed to do for the past 14 years, before embarking on any constitutional amendment process," they posited.
