• On Monday Ndoro Kayuga and George Odhiambo filed the case at the High Court in Mombasa, arguing that Sonko is not qualified to hold any state office.
• The petitioners want the court to issue conservatory orders to restrain the Wiper candidate from running for Mombasa governor.
Image: MIKE SONKO FACEBOOK
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has objected to a case seeking to bar him from vying for Mombasa governor, saying the court has no power to determine that.
Sonko, through his lawyers Jared Magolo and Vincent Omolo, said the High Court does not have the authority to determine the eligibility of candidates in an election because that is the mandate of the IEBC.
"The jurisdiction to determine the qualification and eligibility of the first respondent [Sonko] to vie in the election is vested on the IEBC and not on the court. The court needs to put its pen down," Omolo told the court.
His objection arose out of a case filed on Monday by Ndoro Kayuga and George Odhiambo.
In the case, the two had said Sonko is not qualified to hold any state office, because he has been found guilty of contravening, inter alia, Article 75 of the Constitution of Kenya.
The petitioners want the court to issue conservatory orders to restrain the Wiper candidate from running for Mombasa governor.
In the case, Sonko is named as the first respondent, Wiper Democratic Movement as the second, and the IEBC as the third respondent.
Wiper Party, which last week gave Sonko a direct ticket to contest in Mombasa, also filed an objection through lawyer Eunice Lumallas.
In her objection, Lumallas argued that the court has no authority to determine the matter.
She told the court that she had served the preliminary objection to the petitioners.
However, Willis Oluga, the counsel representing the petitioners, denied having received the preliminary objection from Sonko and Wiper Party.
The IEBC, through advocate Edwin Mukele, said it received the court documents late Tuesday and it had not come up with a substantive response to the petition.
The lawyer requested an additional day to go through the petition and file a response.
Mukele said he has yet to receive any formal communication on whether the IEBC had received the nomination of Sonko's candidature or not.
"I'll have to get formal communication and confirmation from my client. I have heard this orally," he said.
Mukele said there was no need for the court to grant interim orders on the petition as asked by the petitioners because the IEBC has already pushed the deadline for submission of the names of candidates for governors and deputy governors to May 16.
On Tuesday, IEBC announced that it had extended the deadline for receiving party candidates for positions of president, deputy president, governor and deputy governor.
"Following the consultative meeting with political parties and independent candidates, the timeline to submit a list of persons for president, deputy president, governor and deputy governor candidates to the commission has been revised to May 16, 2022," the IEBC said in a statement.
Following the developments, Oluga applied for leave to amend the petition. In addition, he asked the court to grant interim measures against Sonko.
"Things are not certain. Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow and find the deadline of 28 is the one which is applicable. Just to be safe, it is important that we have an interim remedy, just in case," Oluga argued.
Mumallas for the Wiper Party objected to Oluga's request, saying if granted, it could be a prejudice against her client.
"There is absolutely no need for any interim measure because Oluga has not conceptualised what he wants to file before the court," she said.
Justice John Mativo who was hearing the petition, turned down Oluga’s application asking the court to issue interim orders against Sonko.
Mativo also granted IEBC additional time to go through the petition.
The case will come up again on Thursday at 8am. It will be heard virtually and Justice Mativo will issue comprehensive directions.
Edited by A.N