Court to hear an application seeking to suspend KRA’ s commisioner’s directives allowing the split of ISO from IED on November this year.
A High Court sitting in Nairobi has directed that a case in which a Kenyan Citizen has sued Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner over his decision to Separate the Intelligence and Strategic Operations (ISO) from the investigation and enforcement Department to proceed then.
The directive was issued by Justice Bahati Mwamuye after analyzing the application filed before that court.
In the application,Richard Maina Kariuki through Muchangi and Onamu Advocates cited serious constitutional grounds that he claimed were violated during the process.
He told the court that the directives by the commissioner ,who has been listed as the 1st respondent was illegal and against the law.
The grounds raised in suit are that: The decision to transfer ISO from IED without public participation, approval by the Cabinet Treasury, Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the Public Service Commission was unconstitutional and unlawful, that the authority to restructure IED, KESRA and indeed the 4th Respondent in part or as a whole is an exclusive preserve of the Public Service Commission, that Section 13A of the Kenya Revenue Authority Act, 1995 is conflict with Article 234 of the Constitution and therefore invalid in as far as it purports to vest in the 1st Respondent to unilaterally establish, abolish, move and reorganize the 4th Respondent, that the intended abolition, movement, reorganization and or restructuring of KESRA or indeed any part of the 4th Respondent that is not initiated by the 2nd Respondent and approved by the Interested Party was unlawful, that the intended abolition, movement, reorganization and or restructuring of KESRA or indeed any part of the 4th Respondent that takes place without staff and public participation is inimical to Article 10 of the Constitution and therefore invalid and requested that court to issue an order quashing the decision of the commissioner to move ISO from IED among other issues.
He also urged the court to give an order of Prohibition to issue prohibiting the 1st and 3rd Respondents from purporting to abolish, move, reorganize and or restructure KESRA or any other organ of the Kenya Revenue Authority Respondent without the the Public Service Commission taking the lead and with the approval of the Interested Party and added that the costs of, and incidental to the Petition be awarded to the Petitioner.
The Judge granted the order and directed that the parties be served with order and the matter be mentioned on a later date for further hearing.
The petitioner has also pointed to the court that the the commissioner’s decision was dictatorial and a kind of power grab.
The court also heard that the Cabinet Secretary in charge of treasury had not been informed during the decision making
