• Dennis Wahome had asked the court to bar the electoral agency from printing ballot papers for Nairobi until the case is heard and determined.
• According Chebukati, the only way IEBC can reverse its decision to clear Sakaja to contest for governor in the election is through a court order.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA
The High court will on Monday hear the case filed by a petitioner who wanted IEBC not to print Senator Johnson Sakaja’s name on the ballot papers.
On July, 1, 2022, the High court declined to temporarily bar the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission from including Sakaja’s name on the ballot for Nairobi’s gubernatorial contest.
Instead, Justice Anthony Mrima directed that the case filed by Dennis Wahome be fast-tracked and heard on Monday.
He ordered the parties in the case to exchange their papers and file their replies before the close of business, Sunday, in preparation for a hearing the following day.
“The request for conservatory order will affect other parties before they are accorded an opportunity to be heard and given that steps have already been taken for an extradited hearing for this matter hence orders shall not issue at this point,” Justice Mrima said.
Dennis Wahome had asked the court to bar the electoral agency from printing ballot papers for Nairobi until the case is heard and determined.
Wahome had asked the court to temporarily block the commission from including Sakaja’s name on the ballot paper because his degree from Team University, Uganda is not authentic.
He argued that his case would be rendered useless if the IEBC printed his name before the case is settled.
Through lawyer Njoki Mboce, he challenged the decision of the IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee to clear Sakaja to vie for Nairobi governor seat.
“If this petition is not certified urgent and determined forthwith, there is a danger that IEBC shall proceed to include Sakaja’s name on the ballot papers for the county governor election prior to the determination of the issues raised herein,” Wahome claimed.
Still on the degree issue, IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati declined to revoke Sakaja's clearance.
In a letter addressed to Council for University Education CEO Mwenda Ntarangwi, Chebukati stated that the degree issue was deliberated upon by the commission’s disputes resolution tribunal that cleared him.
This was after CUE wrote to the commission informing them of their decision to revoke Sakaja’s degree for failure to submit evidence that he studied in the said university.
However, according Chebukati, the only way IEBC can reverse its decision to clear Sakaja to contest for governor is through a court order.
“The only way to compel the commission to revoke and/or reverse its decision is through a court order setting aside the decision by the tribunal,” the letter reads.
The Kenya Kwanza Gubernatorial candidate was cleared to vie for the seat on June 19, 2022, after a petition filed by the same Wahome was dismissed by the tribunal.
At the same time, the Ugandan government has kicked off investigations into Sakaja's degree, which he claims to have been awarded by Team University in Uganda.
This comes after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations wrote to Uganda's Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni, requesting their government to investigate the authenticity of the senator's academic qualifications.
According to a Ugandan daily, New Vision, the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) said they shall reveal their findings upon completing the investigations.
"Let us finalize our investigations and everyone will know. We cannot share anything now until the investigations are complete," said NHCE Executive director Prof Mary Okweakol, adding that they are at an advanced stage in the probe.