RULING OF THE COURT
Pursuant to the provisions of Articles 185 and 209 (3) of the Constitution the County Assembly of Kiambu County Government (the 1st applicant) enacted the Finance Act, 2013 which imposed a wide range of tax measures. Several business people drawn from the county together with some residents (the respondents) who felt affected by the new tax regime variously moved the High Court by Constitutional Petition Nos. 532 of 2013, 12 of 2014, 35 of 2014, 36 of 2014, 42 of 2014 and 72 of 2014 as well as through Judicial Review Miscellaneous Application No. 61 of 2014. Because they raised similar issues against the applicants, the actions were consolidated and determined in Petition No. 532 of 2013.
In short, the County Government of Kiambu Finance Act, 2013 was being challenged by the respondents on the grounds that it was introduced and passed without their participation; that certain provisions of the Act imposing levies and taxes which the 1st applicant had no powers to imp…