• Chebukati said the impeached Nairobi Governor is not fit to run for the seat in the August polls.
• He said by dint of Article 75 (3) of the Constitution individuals found to have violated Chapter Six of the Constitution cannot hold public office, either through election or appointment.
Image: FILE
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has been disqualified from contesting in the Mombasa governor race.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati said the impeached Nairobi Governor was not fit to run for the seat in the August polls.
Chebukati said in a statement on Saturday that the Commission received a report from the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission that listed one governor aspirant, one senatorial aspirant and one Member of the County Assembly aspirant as unfit to hold public office following their impeachment or removal from office for abuse of office.
He said by dint of Article 75 (3) of the Constitution individuals found to have violated Chapter Six of the Constitution cannot hold public office, either through election or appointment.
“The commission’s position is that Article 75 of the Constitution is self-speaking and self-executing and does not have a proviso (a saving clause).
“Therefore, the three aspirants who have been removed from office office through impeachment are disqualified from contesting in the election,” Chebukati said.
Sonko was impeached in December 2020 by the Nairobi County Assembly on four accounts of gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, misconduct and crimes against national law.
The former governor was seeking a return to politics and wanted to be the incoming Governor in Mombasa County on the Wiper party ticket.
Chebukati further revealed that 11 other aspirants are under investigations by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission.
He said they include one presidential and 10 gubernatorial aspirants.
The poll agency chief, however, confirmed that the aspirants will be allowed to vie at the August polls in keeping with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
"In the circumstances, to disqualify a person under investigation is to affront the Constitution. So persons mentioned in the report as undergoing investigations are not disqualified by law and may contest in the election as candidates," Chebukati said.
He said 55 other aspirants who are undergoing active prosecution will also be allowed to vie in the elections by virtue of the same principle of innocent until proven guilty.
They include one presidential aspirant, 12 gubernatorial aspirants, five senatorial aspirants, one County Woman Representative aspirant, 12 National Assembly aspirants and 24 members of the County Assembly.
However, Chebukati said four convicted aspirants stand disqualified unless they seek appeals on their cases.
They include one gubernatorial candidate, two members of the National Assembly and one MCA aspirant.
Further, all public officers who failed to resign from their respective offices by the February 9, 2022 deadline are also disqualified from the August polls.
Chebukati said 166 aspirants were found by the EACC to have failed to comply by the timelines.
"However, this requirement does not apply to elected state officers currently serving as they are protected by Section 43(6) of the Elections Act," Chebukati said.