•Mukhtar's father filed a petition to have county chief removed from office over 'fake' academic qualifications
•Korane, in court documents, says the petition filed by Mukhtar’s father Aden Mukhtar is in an attempt to seek retribution for the shooting, which he says he is not responsible for the shooting
Image: FILE
Garissa Governor Ali Korane has accused the family of former Garissa official Idris Muktar of seeking revenge against him for over the shooting of their son.
Mukhtar, 34, was shot in his car on the night of August 19 last year in Kileleshwa, Nairobi. He was coming from evening prayers. He has been bed-ridden since; a bullet is lodged in his head.
Juliet Charity Njoki and Mohamud Aden have been charged with the shooting and are out on Sh500,000 bail.
Last year, Mukhtar’s family filed suit in the High Court to have the county chief removed from office. They said Korane had continually violated the Constitution by being illegally in office without having the requisite academic qualifications.
But Korane, in court documents, says the petition filed by Mukhtar’s father Aden Mukhtar is in an attempt to seek retribution for the shooting, which he says he is not responsible for.
“He has made statements against me in the aftermath of his son’s shooting and has written to the DPP to ask that I be prosecuted — the reason why this petition is in bad faith and should be struck out,” his affidavit reads.
The family wants the Commissioner for University Education and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission directed to furnish him and the court with the original certified copies of Korane’s foreign degree certificates allegedly from George Washington University, Washington, DC; a master’s degree from the same university and a master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management from Leicester University.
But Korane, in a fresh application, wants the case struck out on grounds that it is propelled by malice and clan hatred under the guise of raising constitutional issues.
The governor says only the Senate has the exclusive jurisdiction to determine the matters set out in the petition and the court should not allow it to usurp the powers of other constitutional agencies.
He argues that the timeline for filing election petitions have lapsed and the only avenue through which he can be removed from office is impeachment.
“This petition, having been filed long after the time allowed by the Constitution and statutes has lapsed, is removed from this court’s jurisdiction. The petition is tainted with malice purely filed for other external vicious intentions against me,” Korane says.
The IEBC has also said the High Court lacks the jurisdiction to hear the petition challenging Korane’s academic qualifications. In documents filed in court, the commission says the petition as framed is clearly a challenge to the validity of Korane's election as governor and ought to have been filed within the time allowed by the Constitution.
“The petition having been filed outside the time frame established by article 87 (2) of the Constitution, that is 28 days after the declaration of the election results, is time-barred. This court, therefore, lacks the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition,” it says.
The case will be heard on May 29.