•IEBC on Monday said the decision had been arrived at following the Apex court decision that he could not hold any public office due to his impeachment.
•On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal and High Court decision affirming Sonko's impeachment.
Image: FILE
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has revoked Mike Sonko's clearance to vie for the Mombasa governor seat.
This comes even after Sonko applied to the East African Court of Justice seeking to suspend the Supreme Court decision that upheld his impeachment.
IEBC on Monday said the decision had been arrived at following the Apex court decision that he could not hold any public office due to his impeachment.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal and High Court decision affirming Sonko's impeachment.
“In adherence to the Supreme Court judgement, you are therefore disqualified from holding any public office and disqualified from contesting and being elected as Mombasa governor or any other county. Your candidature is invalidated and your certificate revoked,” reads the letter
Last week on Wednesday, the commission cleared Sonko to run for the seat.
The clearance came after a three-judge bench overturned the court's earlier ruling and directed the commission to clear him.
However, this was before the Supreme Court ruling
IEBC in its letter said the commission cleared Sonko because there was an appeal at the Supreme Court at that moment.
“Because the Supreme Court is the Apex court in terms of Judicial hierarchy, there can be no other appeal and in fact, there is none presently,” reads the letter by Swallah Ibrahim Yusuf, Mombasa county returning officer.
Earlier, Sonko had moved to the East African Court of Justice saying the decision of the Supreme Court and courts of Kenya was arrived at unjustly.
Its effect, the legislator said, is to curtail his political rights and the people he represents.
“The decision of the Kenyan judicial arm is tainted with illegality as the decision of the High Court as upheld by the Supreme Court was influenced through corrupt means,” Sonko said.
He wants the EAC court to suspend the execution of the decision by the Apex court pending a hearing and determination of the application.
Sonko has asked the Supreme Court to review its decision that upheld his impeachment.
He wants the Apex court to set aside its decision on grounds that Justice Chitembwe, who was part of the bench that upheld his impeachment, is expected to be investigated over misconduct allegations.
Part of the complaint before the tribunal, he says, is that Justice Said Chitembwe was biased and mischievous in the manner in which he handled his impeachment case.
Sonko in the application for review at the Supreme Court also sought to have Justice Martha Koome recuse herself from the matter.
He wants Koome out of the case following remarks she made in an interview at Spice FM.
He said her remarks were understood to mean that she already has a pre-determined mind on his impeachment case.
Sonko had on Thursday last week sought the recusal of the Judge.
He made the application orally during the impeachment hearing.
But the Judge declined saying no evidence had been tabled to show that she was biased.
Sonko faulted the CJ for being part of the bench that delivered the Friday judgment despite having announced her stand on the case.
“Koome was heard clearly saying that I will not be on the ballot. We had written and we wanted her to recuse herself from the bench, but she was among the judges,” he said.
The IEBC revocation statement is the end of the road for Sonko’s 10-year political career.
Sonko made an entry into politics in September 2010, when he joined the race for Makadara parliamentary seat during a by-election.
He vied on Narc Kenya and won.
It is his flashy lifestyle in Parliament that made him a household name in Kenya and a darling of the youths.
His stay in Narc Kenya was, however, short-lived after he was expelled in August 2011.
This is after he allegedly campaigned for Party of National Unity candidate now MP Yusuf Hassan, instead of campaigning for his party’s candidate, Brian Weke, in the Kamukunji by-election.
He joined the TNA party ahead of 2013 and used its ticket to vie for the Nairobi Senate seat.
He won the polls and served Nairobi for a term and opted to vie for the governor seat in 2017 on a Jubilee party ticket. He won.
His tenure at City Hall was, however, cut short following an impeachment.
On December 3, 2020, he was impeached by 88 Nairobi MCAs.
The matter later proceeded to the Senate on December 17, 2020, where they upheld the decision.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris