Governors lose battle to fly national flags on their official vehicles
Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya during a past interview. Governors have lost their bid to stop the implementation of the law barring them from flying the national flag on their official cars. FILE PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |
Governors have lost their bid to stop the implementation of a law barring them from flying the national flag on their official cars.
Justice Isaac Lenaola on Friday ruled there was no reason to annul the National Assembly’s decision to set limits on who could use the flags on their vehicles.
The Council of Governors, which had filed the application on behalf of the 47 county bosses, claimed the National Flag, Emblems and Names (Amendment) Act 2014 was extremely unconstitutional and should be declared null and void.
But the judge said he could not issue such orders.
He said governors still had the option of flying their county flags if they wished to.
“Our National Assembly, in its wisdom, had limited it’s use on motor vehicles and I am unable to invalidate that decision, County governors have the option of flying their county flags if they are minded to do so, that is the end of the matter,” Justice Lenaola ruled.
The Council of Governors had sued the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the National Assembly and the Attorney-General.
The law barring governors from using the flags was signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 26, 2014.
Those who flout it are liable to a fine of one million shillings, a maximum of five years' imprisonment or both.
