The High Court has certified as urgent a constitutional petition filed by activist and senator Okiya Omtatah Okoiti challenging the legality, financing, and procurement of the proposed Riruta Ngong Commuter Meter Gauge Railway Project.
In directions issued by the court, the petitioners’ Notice of Motion dated 19 December 2025 was ordered to be heard on a priority basis under an expedited schedule. The court directed the petitioners to immediately serve all respondents and interested parties with the application, petition, related pleadings, and earlier rulings, and to file an affidavit of service by 23 December 2025.
Respondents and interested parties have been given until 30 December 2025 to file and serve their responses.
At the heart of the case is a constitutional and financial challenge to the project and its funding framework. The petition questions the legality of the Railway Development Levy Fund (RDLF), arguing that the levy, its enabling statutes, and related regulations are unconstitutional and should be declared null and void.
According to the petitioners, the current law only allows the RDLF to be used for the construction and operation of the Standard Gauge Railway and not for the Riruta–Ngong commuter rail project or any other undertaking.
The petition also challenges the approval, commissioning, and financing of the project, arguing that it does not qualify for national government loan guarantees. It is further alleged that the project violates constitutional principles governing public finance, including transparency, accountability, fiscal responsibility, and parliamentary oversight.
Procurement issues have also been raised. The petitioners accuse the respondents of unlawfully single-sourcing contractors in violation of Article 227 of the Constitution and procurement laws. They question whether the contract meets the threshold of a proper Engineering, Procurement and Construction arrangement and dispute the qualifications of the selected contractor.
Concerns over public participation and access to information form another pillar of the case. The petitioners argue that the project was conceived and rolled out without meaningful public participation and without the conduct or disclosure of feasibility and pre-feasibility studies. They also challenge the legality of the Relocation Action Plan affecting persons displaced by the project.
On the financial front, the petition alleges that loans purportedly obtained from the China Exim Bank, running into hundreds of billions of shillings, are fictitious and fraudulent. The petitioners claim that the inclusion of these figures in Kenya Railways Corporation’s audited accounts depleted its equity and rendered the corporation technically insolvent.
They argue that Kenya Railways Corporation lacks the financial capacity to undertake the multi-billion-shilling Riruta–Ngong commuter rail project, alongside a wider project portfolio estimated at Ksh2.824 trillion that was approved by the National Executive.
Among the remedies sought are orders quashing the legal framework underpinning the Railway Development Levy Fund, decisions approving and financing the Riruta Ngong project, procurement awards, environmental and social approvals, and loan arrangements. The petitioners also seek prohibitory orders stopping construction of the project and barring any further disbursements from the levy fund.
They further want the court to direct the Auditor-General to conduct a special forensic audit of the Railway Development Levy Fund and Kenya Railways Corporation’s finances, with the report to be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions and Parliament. The petition also seeks orders compelling the National Treasury to wind up the levy fund and remit any remaining balances to the Consolidated Fund.
