Kenyan court slams brakes on president's constitutional changes

FILE PHOTO: Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks during a joint statement with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the State House, in Nairobi, Kenya, May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's High Court ruled on Thursday that a drive by President Uhuru Kenyatta to change the constitution was illegal, stopping what his critics have called a political move designed to check his deputy, whom he has fallen out with publicly.

Parliament has already passed the proposed amendments, popularly known as the Building Bridges Initiative, which mark the biggest change to the East African nation's government structure since a new constitution was adopted in 2010.