Sakaja is now among the 16,100 names that had been forwarded by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati for gazettement on June 30, 2022.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA
Nairobi Gubernatorial candidate Johnson Sakaja has officially been gazetted as Governor candidate by the IEBC.
This is despite, the High court ruling coming up on Tuesday that will determine on the inclusion of Nairobi Sakaja’s name on ballot papers.
In the gazette notice, Sakaja has been gazetted along side his running mate Njoroge Muchiri as the candidates for the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party .
Sakaja is now among the 16,100 names that had been forwarded by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati for gazettement on June 30, 2022.
Chebukati had earlier said that with several active cases ongoing touching on candidates who want to contest for varous elective positions, the printing will be repeated depending on the outcome of the courts.
However, according to IEBC CEO Marjan Husssein, it would cost the commission extra money.
“In a case of any alteration, the ballot papers will be printed again. However, as IEBC it is our wish that we wouldnt want that to happen because we are running out of time," Hussein said.
Sakaja has been facing legal battles after Dennis Wahome, a petitioner 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 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) printed his name before the case is settled.
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 and give its ruling on Friday.
However, last week there was a new twist to the case surrounding Sakaja’s governorship, after three more voters filed separate cases seeking his disqualification from the elections.
The petitioners Timothy Charo Odhiambo, David Gitau and Antony Macharia Munene want the court to endorse the decision of the Commission for University Education (CUE), revoking the recognition of Sakaja’s degree from Team University, Uganda.
CUE had earlier stated that the probe it took established that Sakaja was never admitted to Team’s University.
In the fresh suits, the petitioners argued that Sakaja is ineligible based on the CUE’s letter dated June 30, 2022 addressed to the electoral commission indicating that the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate had no valid degree certificate.
The cases which were consolidated by Justice Anthony Mrima, the petitioners have also sued IEBC for declining to disqualify Sakaja from the contest.
They are aggrieved by IEBC’s decision to dismiss the CUE’s letter and also its reasoning that the only way to compel it to reverse its decision in clearing Sakaja, was through a court order setting aside the decision by the commission’s Disputes Resolution Committee (DRC).
Last month, IEBC’s Dispute Resolution Committee threw out a petition that was challenging his nomination, stating that it lacked investigative powers and it could only rely on a criminal conviction against Sakaja for it to deem the degree certificate as invalid.
Pending determination, the three petitioners want temporary orders barring IEBC from publishing in the Kenya Gazette or printing ballots, the details of Sakaja as a contestant for the position of Governor of Nairobi.
They also want court to issue interim orders suspending the IEBC’s decision clearing Sakaja to vie for the governor’s position.
The petitions will be heard on July 12, 2022 by Justice Hedwig Ong’undi at the High Court in Milimani