• In April the court halted Waiguru's impeachment because of the pandemic.
• MCAs produced evidence in court showing that the pandemic had been contained in Kirinyaga.
Image: /FILE
Embattled Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru suffered yet another setback after the High Court dismissed her application that sought to nullify the Tuesday impeachment.
Waiguru went to court on Tuesday seeking to have the decision by MCAs annulled arguing that they had disobeyed court orders.
However, Justice Weldon Korir declined to grant her prayers and dismissed her amended application with costs to the Kirinyaga county assembly and speaker.
“In the circumstances I do not find any merits in the motion dated June 9. The application is hereby dismissed with costs to respondents,” the judge ruled.
Korir ruled that he had carefully looked at the pleadings of the parties and oral submissions and it was clear to him that the MCAs did not violate the orders issued by his court on April 7 when they impeached Waiguru.
“Whether the petitioner was given the opportunity to be heard or whether there were indeed adequate public participation are not issues to be addressed through this application. Those are maters to be addressed during hearing of the petition,” the court held.
The court further said if the county assembly is satisfied that the Covid-19 pandemic had been contained in the county, they are free to proceed with the impeachment motion without seeking the authority of the court.
“The evidence laid to this court by the respondent clearly shows the Covid-19 pandemic has been contained in Kirinyaga, the court was indeed clear that the order halting the impeachment motion was only granted because of the pandemic,” the court ruled.
In the case, Waiguru had challenged the impeachment motion that was tabled by the MCAs, leading to her removal on Tuesday.
Through lawyer Waweru Gatonye, Waiguru had argued that the tabling, discussion and passing of the impeachment motion violates her rights as well as those of the members of public who have not been given a chance to participate in the process.
Waiguru said the coronavirus is still an issue and so there will be no fair hearing until it is contained to allow everyone to participate
In March, the governor filed a case seeking to stop her impeachment arguing that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it would be hard for her to appear as she had a preexisting medical condition and was working from home to avoid being infected.
Justice Korir allowed her application and barred the assembly from tabling the impeachment process pending the hearing of her petition.
Korir in April ruled that Waiguru had demonstrated that her constitutional rights had been threatened by the assembly and if the impeachment motion was allowed to proceed to conclusion, then the doctrine of public participation will be violated.
“Even though the court ruled that it could not interfere with the mandate of the county assembly, the unique circumstances posed by the pandemic imposed a duty on the court to interfere,” he ruled.
Edited by R.Wamochie