President William Ruto’s handpicked team for the Climate Change Council has hit a major legal roadblock.
On Friday, May 2, the High Court in Nairobi ruled that the appointments of four council members were unconstitutional.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi said the government failed to involve the public, as required by law, before making the selections.
The court found no proof that Kenyans were ever consulted — a key part of the process under the Public Participation Act.
Because of that, the judge cancelled the appointments and gave the government 90 days to start the nomination process all over again, this time the right way.
The four blocked from taking office are Emily Mwende, John Kioli, Umar Omar, and George Odera.
They had already been stopped temporarily from assuming their roles back in February 2023, after a lobby group challenged their selection in court.
That group argued that the whole process was done behind closed doors — with no transparency, no open competition, and no input from civil society organizations that actually work on climate change issues.
In fact, the petition pointed out that no one could say for sure who among the nominees was meant to represent these grassroots organizations, which is something the law clearly requires.
At the time, then-Attorney General Justin Muturi who was Public Service Cabinet Secretary was also named in the case.
Ruto had pitched the council as part of his government’s strategy to tackle climate change. But with the court’s ruling, his approach is now under fire for being more about political appointments than public interest.
