(2) An appointed State Officer or public officer shall not engage in any political activity that may compromise or be seen to compromise the political neutrality of the office subject to any laws relating to elections. (3) Without prejudice to the generality of sub- section (2) a public officer shall not ── (a) Engage in the activities of any political party or candidate or act as an agent of a political party or a candidate in an election; (b) Publicly indicate support for or opposition against any political party or candidate participating in an election [Emphasis added.] [329] The Petitioners submitted that since Cabinet Secretaries are State Officers, they ought to be impartial, but that Section 23 above gives them leeway for impartiality. The 3rd respondent contests that submission and urges the Court to disregard it since the issue of unconstitutionality was not pleaded in the petition but was only introduced as an argument in the petitioners’ oral submissions. The 3rd respondent also urges that the Supreme Court in exercise of its exclusive original jurisdiction cannot adjudicate on the unconstitutionality of an Act of Parliament since that is a matter within the domain of the High Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 165 (3) (d) of the Constitution. Presidential  Petition  No.  1  of  2017                                                                                                                                                                                                            142  |  P a g e