JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
This is an appeal from the judgment of the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (A.B. Shah, J. as he then was) dismissing an application for orders of prohibition and certiorari by the applicants, now the appellants, to prohibit the Commissioner for Co-operative Development (the Commissioner) from meddling in the affairs of Sukuma Wiki Co-operative Society (the Society), especially, from being a signatory to the Society's bank accounts, usurping the functions of the management committee and collecting rents for the Society's immovable properties; and, to quash such acts by the Commissioner.
The Society was registered under the Co-operative Societies Act Cap 490 of the Laws of Kenya (the Act) on 7th April, 1975. Its membership is over 1,600 and, as the name suggests, the Society caters mainly for petty traders and vegetable vendors within the City of Nairobi and its environs.
The Society also provides its members with living accommodation at fair and reasonable charges. To…