Mombasa High Court has temporarily barred the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from clearing Mike Sonko to vie for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat in the August, 9 polls.
The restraining order was issued on Thursday, May 19 by Justice John Mativo pending the hearing and resolve of a petition which was filed by three civil society organizations including; Kituo Cha Sheria, Hali Yetu, and Transparency International, who want the former Nairobi governor disqualified from the polls.
“I order that the IEBC and is hereby restrained from processing Sonko’s nomination papers to contest and vie for the office of the Governor of Mombasa County pending hearing and determination of this petition,” Justice Mativo said.
In the applications to have Sonko banned form contesting the Mombasa gubernatorial seat, the petitioners argue that he was ousted from office due to a violation of the constitution and thus, failing to promote public confidence by upholding integrity while in office.
The petition by Kituo Cha Sheria lawyer Grace Okumu stated: “Having been found unsuitable to hold the office of the Governor of Nairobi City County, Mr Sonko is equally unsuitable to hold any other state office.”
Moreover, the applicants are seeking conservatory orders against the Wiper party over claims that they violated the constitution. They argued that despite being disqualified by Article 75 (3) of the Constitution from holding state office, Mike Sonko was still nominated by the party.
“IEBC is likely to approve and clear Mr Sonko to run for the position of Mombasa Governor since he has already been nominated by the Wiper party and his name submitted to IEBC in the further perpetuation of constitutional violations and a real threat to petitioners’ constitutional rights,” the petition further stated.
Nonetheless, these petitions follow two other previous petitions in Mombasa by Ndoro Kaguya and George Odhiambo and another in Eldoret, which also sought to disqualify the ex-governor of Nairobi County from contesting the Mombasa seat. Sonko through his lawyers applied to have the matters transferred to Mombasa and combined with the other petitions already before the Mombasa High Court.
According to Ms Munira Ali, a programmes officer at Haki Yetu, if Sonko is cleared by the commission then him together with the Wiper party will have converted Mombasa County into a dumping ground for rejected leaders.
The case will be mentioned on May 24.