The High Court has quashed the President’s move to transfer Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) from Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives to the Ministry of Defence.

Justice Anthony Mrima ruled that the decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta defied Article 10 of the Constitution owing to lack of public participation but said the blunder could be corrected.

The case was filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) in public interest.

But the judge ruled that the order by the court be suspended for 90 days to give the Attorney General a chance to formalize the decision as the move was already effected and budgeted for.

Justice Mrima dismissed an argument by LSK that the move was random and was tantamount to commercialising the Ministry of Defence in violation of the Forces Act.

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President Kenyatta had said moving KMC from the Ministry of Agriculture to that of Defence was meant to give a new lease on life to the troubled state firm and boost meat sales in Kenya.

In the LSK court challenge, lawyer Hosea Manwa argued that the move violated the law and that Cap 383 of the law that created the commission needed to be amended first.