Mike Mbuvi Sonko who is eying Mombasa gubernatorial seat and Paul Thang’wa in Kiambu senatorial seat were barred from vying due to impeachment cases.
Subsequently, the High Court sitting in Nairobi recently cited that it has no jurisdiction to discern if former Nairobi governor, Mike Sonko, and former Kiambu County Executive Committee Member (CECM), Karungo wa Thang’wa should be barred from the August polls.
Mike Sonko and Karugo Thangwa
However, petitioners were asked to explore and exhaust internal dispute resolution mechanism with IEBC by the judges.
“We find and hold that petitions relating to the nomination process concerning Mike Sonko, Paul Thang’wa and Samuel Arama are premature. We lack jurisdiction to entertain the petition on integrity issues about Sonko and others,” stated the Judges.
Judgement
Moreover, the three-Judge bench asserted that they would only make a judgment on the matter once the issue is resolved by the IEBC.
“The net effect of this decision is that pre-election disputes such as those regarding suitability and eligibility for the nomination of candidates must be resolved by the IEBC in the first instance. The High Court’s jurisdiction is only triggered once the IEBC makes a decision on the issue,” the Judges ruled.
According to Chebukati, Mr Mike Sonko’s move to bid for the seat could not be possible because he still has an active case.
Besides, his legal team while arriving before the IEBC dispute tribunal asked the committee to invert the ruling of the Mombasa county returning Officer who declined to clear him until the High Court made a ruling.
Also read Sonko Cries Foul, Reveals What The Government Did to His Family a Day After IEBC Disqualification
Nonetheless, the tribunal upheld IEBC’s ruling asserting that he was denied clearance for many other reasons apart from impeachment. Some of the reasons he was not cleared included late submission of his certified academic papers.
