• George Bush and Lawrence Oyugi say some MCAs plan to impeach Sonko.
• Judge Weldon Korir directed them to file a formal application on impeachment, instead of making it verbally as they did, and declined to stop criminal proceedings against county chief.
Image: COURTESY
Nairobi MCAs are free to impeach embattled Governor Mike Sonko after the High Court declined to stop his removal from office.
Sonko is charged with embezzling Sh357 million. He is out on Sh15 million bail and is likely to be impeached by the county assembly over the current stalemate at City Hall after he was barred from accessing county offices.
Last week. George Bush and Lawrence Oyugi sought a court order to stop Sonko’s prosecution. On Monday, they asked the court to stop his impeachment, arguing that some MCAs plan to table an impeachment motion against Sonko. Bush and Oyugi are the chairman and CEO of Concerned Citizen Alliance respectively.
Judge Weldon Korir directed them to file a formal application on impeachment, instead of making it verbally as they did. Similarly, the judge declined to stop the criminal proceedings at the magistrate’s court against Sonko and directed them to serve the Director of Public Prosecutions with the application.
The DPP was granted 14 days to file his response in the matter where the two are challenging Sonko's prosecution. In the case, the two claim that Sonko's fundamental rights were violated during his dramatic arrest on December 6.
They want the court to halt criminal proceedings against him. They argue that Sonko is not properly before the magistrate's court but is a victim of malice and police brutality. The petitioners say the county chief was denied all the rights of an accused person, his dignity was degraded and was mistreated by officers during the arrest.
"In disregard for all the legal processes for securing arrest, Haji ordered the police to arrest Sonko and thereby opening a floodgate for unprecedented abuses by police officers as was witnessed during the arrest,” they say.
They say arrest warrants should be issued against persons who fail to honour legal summonses.
"The status of Sonko as an unconvicted person was not recognised during the arrest, the assault against him was only administered against convicted criminals in the dark eras of the most oppressive government, even the worst government under the sun never attacked or assaulted accused persons," their petition reads.
They say DPP Noordin Haji ordered policemen to arrest Sonko to embarrass and humiliate him without obtaining a valid warrant of arrest.
"The warrant of arrest was not formally obtained as required by law but, instead, arbitrarily issued by the DPP without due process," they say.
They added that Sonko, given the position he holds at the legitimate Governor of Nairobi, deserves respect and honour.
“The status of the governor as an unconvicted man with equal rights, especially that of presumption of innocence until proved guilty, was not recognised."