• The assembly's lawyers said the letter was issued on December 7 when members had already gone for recess.
• It could not be found in the register of received documents at the county assembly.
Image: REUTERS
The letter revoking the nomination of Anne Kananu for the position of deputy governor was forged, the Nairobi county assembly has said.
The assembly and Acting Nairobi Governor Benson Mutura told Justice Anthony Mrima that the document authored by impeached Governor Mike Sonko should not be relied upon by the court.
The two were responding to applications filed by activist Okiya Omtatah and governor hopeful Habil Kongo challenging Kananu’s vetting on Friday.
Mutura through lawyer Duncan Okatch said he has filed a complaint at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations over the fraudulent letter.
The court heard that the alleged revocation letter could not be found in the register of received documents at the county assembly.
“That letter as much as we want to sugarcoat it is fraudulent as far as my client is concerned. This is a document that the petitioners are asking the court to rely on to stop the vetting process. We urge the court not to grant such orders,” he said.
The assembly's lawyers said the letter was issued on December 7 when members had already gone for recess.
Okatch further told the court that pursuant to Kananu’s nomination, the assembly and the speaker had already kick-started the process to vet her. The process is not reversible once it lands in the county assembly, he said.
Kananu, represented by senior counsel Paul Muite, also opposed the orders sought. She said the petitioners had ample time to come to court but chose the last minute to do so.
“The gazette notice regarding my appointment was issued in February last year. The long delay is inexcusable and no attempt by the petitioners has been made to explain why they waited until the eleventh hour to file orders stopping the vetting,” she said.
In the case, Omtatah has asked the court to stop the vetting and approval of Kananu, which would make her become governor.
He said under the Constitution, Kananu cannot be deputy governor and definitely not the governor, since she never assumed office when Nairobi had a county chief.
“The Constitution contemplates a holder of the office of a Deputy Governor, who is in office when the vacancy occurs, and not any other person, to assume office where a Governor ceases to hold office. Kananu was not, and is not, the holder of the office of a Deputy Governor,” he said.
Omtatah said 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.
He has asked the court to declare that Kananu is ineligible to be vetted, appointed, or sworn into office as the Deputy Governor of Nairobi City County and, subsequently, as the governor.
The activist wants the IEBC compelled to announce a vacancy in the office of the deputy governor of Nairobi and prepare at the scheduled by-election for the election of both officers.