The Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) is set to file an application to be enjoined as an interested party in the constitutional petition challenging the appointment of Peter Maina Karimi as Director General of the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA).
The petition was filed at the Milimani High Court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division by Patrick Mwashigadi in February.
COFEK’s intervention is anchored on its statutory mandate under the Consumer Protection Act to safeguard the interests of millions of Kenyan consumers who interact daily with the gambling industry, an industry that has grown into one of Kenya’s most significant economic sectors, attracting billions of shillings in investments, generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs, and touching the financial lives of an estimated fifteen million Kenyans.
The Federation’s position is not aligned to either side of the primary dispute regarding the qualifications of the 4th Respondent.
Rather, COFEK’s concern is systemic: that the prolonged leadership vacuum or governance uncertainty at the GRA, whichever way this matter is decided, must not be allowed to compromise regulatory continuity, consumer protection enforcement, licensing oversight, or the integrity of the gambling ecosystem that millions of citizens depend upon.
Kenya’s gambling sector operates under the Gambling Control Act, No. 14 of 2025, which vests the GRA with sweeping powers over licensing, enforcement, consumer redress, responsible gambling promotion, and the protection of vulnerable populations including minors and problem gamblers.
These functions cannot be placed in operational limbo while the courts determine the legality of an appointment.
COFEK’s intended participation as an interested party will ensure that the Court is fully seized of the consumer protection dimension that neither the Petitioner nor the institutional Respondents may adequately ventilate.
Consumer rights are constitutional rights and they supersede statutory interests in terms of legal hierarchal weight.
COFEK will specifically urge the Court to issue directions ensuring that, regardless of the outcome of the main petition, the GRA’s regulatory and consumer protection functions remain fully operational.
Accordingly, COFEK will be praying that any conservatory orders granted are carefully crafted to avoid creating an enforcement vacuum, and that the Board of Directors of the GRA is directed to initiate an expedited, lawful, transparent and merit-based recruitment process to permanently resolve the leadership question in the public interest.
The Federation further notes with grave concern that the gambling industry’s size and complexity demand a regulator of unimpeachable independence and free from any actual or perceived conflict of interest with licensed operators.
The thin line between sector experience and potential conflict of the 4th Respondent has to be looked at both in the interest of consumer protection as well as well non-discrimination especially where no written has been offended – and the broader rule of law and public interest
