Sonko to know fate in Mombasa governor race next week

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko will know next Friday whether his name will be on the ballot for the Mombasa governor contest or not.

A three-judge bench of Olga Sewe, Ann Ong'injo' and Stephen Githinji hearing the petition filed by Sonko against IEBC has retreated to prepare their decision.

The ruling had been set for tomorrow, but the judges said they would need more time to go through all the submissions tabled by lawyers representing Sonko, IEBC, and Wiper.

They said the verdict will be delivered latest Friday next week, July 15.

On Wednesday evening, lawyers representing Sonko and Wiper argued that the IEBC Disputes Resolutions Committee erred by disqualifying the former governor from vying.

They pleaded with the judges to allow Sonko to vie, even as the legal counsel of IEBC and DRC fought back to prove the former Nairobi governor is not qualified to run for the seat.

Sonko's legal team was led by Wilfred Nyamu, while IEBC and the Mombasa county returning officer were represented by Edwin Mukele.

Eunice Lumallas led the Wiper Democratic Movement's legal front.

Earlier in the day, the court turned down IEBC's petition to have the conservatory orders issued on Monday reviewed to allow for the printing of the Mombasa gubernatorial contest ballot papers.

Nyamu argued that Sonko had met with many unnecessary and malicious legal obstacles in his quest to vie to be the governor seat and asked the court to grant him and Mombasa residents a chance to practice their constitutional rights.

He said that IEBC disqualified Sonko for presenting his documents late, which he termed illegal.

"Sonko was in the process of presenting his nomination papers. He was the last aspirant to present the papers," Nyamu said. 

"The time of submission of the documents was pegged at 4 pm. Our first argument is that 4 pm would mean from. 4 o'clock to 4. 59 pm."

Sonko submitted his academic documents at 4.42 pm on June 7, which was the last day for submissions and clearance by the commission.

Nyamu further said that his client complied with the checklist that he was given by IEBC and he met all the requirements.

"Article 18 (2) of the constitution states that for one to be eligible as a governor, they have to be eligible to be an MCA," Nyamu said.

"The legislature introduced other conditions in section 22 of the Election Act, which added the degree requirements for gubernatorial candidates. Sonko has one, from Kenya Methodist University and he presented it to the IEBC." 

However, counsel Nyamu said that the CRO refused the degree certificate as it was certified by an advocate and instead introduced another condition that the degree must be certified by the issuing university.

The DRC had also disqualified Sonko saying he was in gross violation of article 75 of the constitution, which had led to his impeachment by the Senate.

Sonko's legal team dismissed this reason, saying that there is a pending appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging the impeachment.

The team argued that Sonko should not have been disqualified because of that.

"The CRO was aware of that appeal at the Supreme Court, but she said she needed a court order to know if there was an appeal. She just needed to make a call to the IEBC legal team but she didn't," Nyamu said.

Sonko's other lawyer John Khaminwa persuaded the court to allow his client to run for the governor position, based on the universal tenets of law, which he presented in court.

"This court should practice the precautionary principle. We saw what happened in 2007," Khaminwa said.

"When you are hearing an election petition you need to be careful. I urge this court to minimise the risk. If we don't allow Sonko to run, we are courting a risk."

Khaminwa also argued based on the principle of democracy and said that locking out Sonko would mean that the court is frustrating democracy.

Further, the counsel said that a university degree is not very necessary for one to vie for an elective post, even though in this case, his client had one.

"The degree is not even necessary. Sir Winston Churchill, Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad didn't have any degree yet they were excellent leaders," Khaminwa said.

Ochieng Oginga, Wiper lawyer said the people of Mombasa have a right to choose freely and be represented by a person of their choice, a thing that the DRC was frustrating, contrary to article 24 of the constitution.

"Limitation of rights must be reasonable and anchored by the law and only apply in times of emergency. There is no emergency to limit the rights of Sonko," Oginga said.

Mukele, in response, said that IEBC has been fair and independent toward all the candidates and has no reason to be unfair to Sonko

He told the court that the CRO and IEBC acted within the law. 

"We had a list of requirements for all candidates. We had nine aspirants vying for the gubernatorial seat of Mombasa. Seven were cleared," Mukele said.

"There was a pre-nomination sensitisation meeting called by the CRO to appraise all nine aspirants, but Sonko sent representatives."

He said that Sonko failed to provide an original degree and only provided the right one at 4.42 pm on June 7 past the gazetted timeliness of  IEBC.

"Timelines are important and are anchored in law. 4 pm means 4 pm, not 4.59 pm," he said.

(Edited by Tabnacha O)