The High Court has issued interim orders restraining the Standard Group from repeating or circulating reports linking President William Ruto’s daughter, Charlene Ruto, to the procurement of Kenya Police Service uniforms.
The orders follow a case filed by Charlene over reports published by the Standard on August 30, 2026, including a front-page feature headlined “THE TRAIL…” and a page six story titled “Police uniform tender trail links Alusala teacher and First Family.”
Charlene told the court that the reports linked her to an alleged KSh2.8 billion police uniform procurement, creating the impression that she had participated in the tender, supplied goods under the contract or benefited from it.
Through Kitinya and Co Advocates, she challenged the reports and sought orders stopping the Standard Group from repeating or further disseminating the allegations.
Her case was also based on a clarification by the National Police Service over the company mentioned in connection with the procurement.
According to the court documents, the police said Nalitex Limited did not participate in the procurement process, was not awarded the contract and was not a subcontractor.
The company also did not receive a purchase order or payment in relation to the tender, according to the documents.
The National Police Service identified Bedi Investments Limited as the contractor for the procurement.
Charlene further told the court that she had served the Standard Group with a written demand and right-of-reply notice seeking a correction, retraction and apology.
She argued that the disputed reports remained available online despite the demand, allowing the allegations to continue being circulated and republished digitally.
In her application, she asked the court to restrain the Standard Group from “repeating, republishing, reposting, distributing or otherwise disseminating” the allegations linking her to the police uniform procurement.
She further sought an order requiring the media company to remove the digital versions of the reports or, alternatively, attach a clear corrective notice to them.
The High Court granted the second interim prayer in Charlene’s application, effectively stopping further dissemination of the contested allegations as the case proceeds.
The respondents have been given seven days to file their responses to the application.
The court will mention the matter on October 19, 2026.
