A Nairobi resident has lost his bid in court to stop or challenge Governor Johnson Sakaja’s ongoing cabro paving and pedestrian walkway works in the Central Business District (CBD).
The High Court ruled that Mr Francis Awino’s allegations of procurement irregularities and inadequate public disclosure were too general to justify a judicial review.
Mr Awino had questioned the transparency of the contracts, the safety of pedestrians and the involvement of workers wearing reflective jackets branded “Sakaja Delivery Unit”.
However, Justice Nabil Orina ruled that Mr Awino had failed to identify specific government decisions he wanted quashed and had not exhausted alternative legal procedures for obtaining procurement records pursuant to the Access to Information Act.
“The applicant fails to identify the grievance with any precision leaving the prayer to stand as an omnibus catch-it-all net for anything allegedly tied to the impugned works,” said the court, leaving the works unrestrained.
Pedestrians walk on a newly refurbished cabro paving along Moi Avenue in Nairobi on December 11, 2025.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
Mr Awino sought permission to challenge the county government's procurement and implementation of the CBD cabro works, have the disputed contracts and approvals quashed, and stop further construction and payments.
He also wanted disclosure of procurement and funding records, and to require the county to install adequate barriers, warning signs and pedestrian diversions at construction sites.
He argued that the construction lacked transparent, competitive procurement, publicly available contract records and adequate safety measures.
He also questioned workers wearing reflective jackets branded “Sakaja Delivery Unit”, saying the labels raised concerns about public functions being exercised through an undefined structure.
His application sought to quash decisions, tenders, contracts and funding arrangements, stop construction and payments, compel disclosure of records and require pedestrian safety measures.
Nairobi County opposed the application, saying Mr Awino had not identified any decision by its maker, date, content or legal effect.
In an affidavit, the county said the works were not being undertaken under the cooperation agreement signed on February 17, 2026 between the national and county government, as Mr Awino alleged. The county said tenders had been advertised, evaluated and awarded independently before the agreement, and contracts signed before construction began.
The county attached tender advertisements, award letters, evaluation minutes, approvals and engineers’ reports, and said budgets had been set aside.
Pedestrians walking on a newly refurbished Cabro Paving along Moi Avenue in Nairobi on December 11, 2025.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
Justice Orina explained that permission to begin judicial review proceedings is meant to filter out cases that have no reasonable legal basis before they proceed to a full hearing. However, at this stage, the court is not expected to examine all the evidence or make a final decision on the dispute.
“The threshold is deliberately low and is not equivalent to the standard required for the substantive judicial review orders,” he said.
The judge found Mr Awino had not specified the decisions he wanted challenged. His request sought to quash an “omnibus catch-it-all net” of actions without identifying the particular administrative decision alleged to breach the Constitution. The court called the prayer “amorphous”.
The judge said procurement disputes were governed by the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, including a review mechanism under section 175.
“That regime cannot be circumvented through a generalized complaint before the High Court,” he ruled.
On access to records, Justice Orina said Mr Awino had not first used procedures under the Access to Information Act and its 2023 regulations.
The county had supplied documents with its response. The judge described the demand for further records through judicial review as “a fishing expedition”.
He rejected the request for safety orders, saying construction-site safety was regulated by other laws with separate enforcement mechanisms. The court did not find that the sites were safe or that all safety requirements had been met.
The dispute follows a county tender advertised in October 2025 for improvements to non-motorised transport facilities along parts of Moi Avenue and Haile Selassie Avenue.
In May 2026, the county announced completion of CBD walkway upgrades, including cabro paving, LED streetlights and solar benches around Moi Avenue, Tom Mboya Street, Kencom and the Ambassador terminal.
The cooperation agreement covers joint infrastructure work, including roads, non-motorised transport and street lighting. The County Assembly established an ad hoc committee to scrutinise the agreement, its budget implications and public participation.
