Uhuru Kenyatta to drop Jubilee Party leadership after High Court ruling

Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta will step down as Jubilee Party leader after the High Court upheld a law barring former presidents from holding party office for more than six months after leaving office. Justice Lawrence Mugambi, delivering judgment virtually in Nairobi on September 3, dismissed a petition challenging Section 6 of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act. The law bars a retired president from holding a leadership position in any political party more than six months after leaving office. However, it does not stop them from remaining party members or taking part in political activities. The petition was brought by activist Peter Agoro, who argued the provision unfairly singled out former presidents while imposing no similar restriction on ordinary citizens. Mugambi rejected that comparison, ruling that a former president occupies a distinct constitutional category because of the influence and benefits attached to having held the country's highest office.