Activist Okiya Omtatah has sued to block the vetting and appointment of Anne Kananu as the deputy governor of Nairobi.
If approved to take up the role, Kananu could potentially fill the post of governor left by Mike Sonko who was impeached in December last year.
Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura is the current Nairobi governor in an acting capacity.
Kananu is set to be vetted by the assembly’s Appointment committee on January 15 after a case challenging her nomination was withdrawn on Thursday.
In a public notice, clerk Edward Gichana said Kananu will be vetted in the plenary chamber from 9am. The committee is chaired by the speaker and deputised by the Majority leader Abdi Hassan alias Guyo.
In his suit papers, Omtatah says Sonko revoked Kananu’s nomination on December 7 last year. She cannot, therefore, be vetted for appointment as deputy governor.
“Under the Constitution, Kananu cannot be DG and definitely not the Governor since she never assumed office when Nairobi had a Governor,” Omtatah says.
Omtatah says that the Constitution contemplates that only a serving deputy governor can assume the office of governor if a vacancy arises.
“Kananu was not, and is not, the holder of the office of a Deputy Governor. Hence, an election for both the offices of the Governor and of Deputy Governor must be held unless the impeachment of Sonko is reversed by a Court of competent jurisdiction,” Omtatah says.
He has asked the court to declare that Kananu is ineligible to be vetted, appointed, or sworn into office as deputy governor and, subsequently, Nairobi governor.
The activist wants the IEBC compelled to announce a vacancy in the office of the deputy governor of Nairobi and prepare for their election alongside that of governor.
“Unless the Court intervenes immediately, Kananu who is not lawfully nominated to be vetted as a Deputy Governor because her nomination by Sonko was revoked on 7th December, 2020 will be unlawfully vetted by the County Assembly on 15th January, 2021,” Omtatah says.
(edited by o. owino)
