NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 4 – The High Court has suspended the Nairobi Gubernatorial by-election which is scheduled for February 18 pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by Mike Sonko who was impeached last month.
Justice Anthony Mrima suspended the Gazette Notice which was issued by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on December 22, 2020 until Sonko’s case is heard and determined.
Sonko, who was impeached on December 17, 2020 after the Senate upheld a motion by the Nairobi County Assembly, had moved to court to challenge his ouster.
In his petition, Sonko wanted the court to issue conservatory orders restraining the implementation of the resolution which was passed by the Senate.
Sonko had further pleaded with the court to grant him orders to stop the Acting Nairobi Governor Benson Mutura from executing his mandate until the determination of his petition is dtermined.
Sonko argues that the impeachment motion against him was debated and passed irregularly by the County Assembly.
“The petitioner contends that the motion was illegal, null and invalid since it did not meet the requisite legal threshold to warrant an impeachment process to commence,” he stated.
Sonko noted that the outcome of the debate that saw 88 out of the 122 MCAs vote to impeach him was at best illegal owing to the nature of how the votes were cast.
“Nairobi City County Assembly has 122 MCAs but from the record 146 persons voted, in view of the foregoing it follows that 24 strangers illegally participated in the process bringing the integrity of the process into question,” he said.
Sonko emphasized that the mover of the motion Embakasi Ward MCA Michael Ogada acted out of malice, vendetta and bad faith in vengeance.
The controversial former Governor has since declared his allegiance to Deputy President William Ruto and vowed to support his 2022 presidential bid.
Already, close to 10 candidates have declared interest to succeed Sonko in the city hall race among them businesswoman Agnes Kagure and former Dagoreti South MP Dennis Waweru.
