The High Court on Monday upheld a law restricting retired Presidents from holding political party office beyond six months after leaving State House, forcing retired President Uhuru Kenyatta to signal his readiness to hand over the leadership of Jubilee Party.
Who Holds the Levers
Justice Lawrence Mugambi said the restriction was a lawful safeguard against former heads of state exercising power indirectly through political proxies. That’s the state speaking in the language of order, drawing a line around who gets to keep influence after leaving office and who doesn’t. The court said the law was designed to protect democratic transitions and preserve the special status of retired Presidents. Section 6 (1), Justice Mugambi said, did not forbid the retired President from being a member of a political party, but restricted taking up a leadership role in the political party for more than six months after retiring.
In a statement by his Communications Secretary Kanze Dena-Mararo, Mr Kenyatta said the ruling was a reaffirmation of the country’s democratic maturity. He said his delay in handing over the leadership was the result of a leadership dispute in the party that dragged for more than a year. The statement said the long-delayed handover of the party chairmanship had not been stalled by reluctance, but by a contested internal dispute that required clarity, and that with the court’s guidance, that path was now clear.
The Party Machine and Its Internal War
Mr Kenyatta faced an attempted coup orchestrated by nominated MP Sabina Chege and East African Legislative Assemble (EALA) MP Kanini Kega. He succeeded in gaining control of the former ruling party in March 2025. That’s the kind of internal struggle that exposes how party structures become battlegrounds for competing elites, while ordinary people are left watching the machinery grind itself into another round of legal and political theater.
The statement also said the former President affirmed his absolute willingness to see the handover completed openly, lawfully and in strict accordance with the party’s constitution, and that he looked forward to the party’s process moving forward without hindrance. The language is neat, polished, and obedient to the rules of the apparatus. The dispute itself, though, dragged for more than a year before the court stepped in to settle what the party couldn’t resolve on its own.
What the Ruling Forces Next
The ruling means that Mr Kenyatta will also have to resign as the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Council chairperson. He has been active in the coalition’s 2027 game plan, including making major changes in its leadership and structure. That puts another layer of hierarchy under pressure, with the court’s decision reaching beyond Jubilee Party and into the coalition’s top table.
Allies of President Ruto have criticized him for actively participating in national politics and have repeatedly accused him of violating the law. Their criticism fits the usual script: rival camps policing each other’s access to power while the public gets told this is democracy working as designed. The court’s ruling now gives that fight a legal frame, and the former President says the path is clear for the handover to move forward without hindrance.