The Court of Appeal has directed the Kenyan government to release all documents related to the Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway project. The May 15 ruling dismissed an appeal by the Attorney General seeking to keep the contracts secret.
A three-judge bench ruled that withholding information on the USD 4.5 billion railway from taxpayers is unconstitutional. The decision upheld a 2021 High Court petition filed by civil rights advocates who had requested the documents in 2019 and 2021.
The Attorney General had argued that disclosure would harm national security and relations with China. The court rejected these claims, stating that the government must provide specific evidence of harm rather than general assertions.
The ruling reinforces the right of Kenyans to access state-held information under the Constitution and the Access to Information Act. Each party will bear its own costs in the case.