This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
On June 18, 2020, the High Court suspended a notice issued by Transport CS James Macharia, making it compulsory from June 1, 2020, for goods detained for Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan to be transported via the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) for clearance at the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD).
The court's decision was made in response to a petition filed by Okiya Omtatah, who argued that the claim that transporting all transit cargo/containers imported through the Port of Mombasa and destined for Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan via the SGR for clearance at the Naivasha ICD would help contain the COVID-19 pandemic was not backed by any scientific study.
Omtatah further alleged that the notice by the CS had no basis in law and breached express provisions of the Constitution and national legislation. He also claimed that the CS did not have the power or capacity to issue the notice in the manner he did, contrary to the Constitution, and that there was no public participation leading to the publication of the notice.
Justice Pauline Nyamweya issued the orders, stating that the leave granted to institute the judicial review proceedings would operate as a stay and/or suspension of the notice pending the hearing and determination of the ex parte applicants' substantive notice of motion or further orders by the court.
