Wrong to swear in governor with pending petition

Supreme Court judges

The Supreme Court of Kenya judges. From the presidential petition that was filed by Azimio leader Raila Odinga challenging President William Ruto’s win, the 2022 petitions have had their own fair share of surprises.

Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group

Like all other Kenyans, I have been following petitions challenging the outcomes declared by the electoral agency in the last general election with a lot of interest.

From the presidential petition that was filed by Azimio leader Raila Odinga challenging President William Ruto’s win, the 2022 petitions have had their own fair share of surprises.

I have followed the cases through media coverage, and social media posts and sometimes had to attend court sessions.

In the process, I was able to pick out some lessons I consider vital and which must be addressed if democracy and elections petitions against governors will have any meaning beyond platitudes.

Parliament must take a fresh look at the law that allows the governor-elect to assume office in the face of a pending poll petition. 

Undue advantage

Assuming office in such circumstances confers an undue advantage to the governor-elect, who oftentimes exploits the powers of the office to undermine and in some cases influence the outcome of the petition.

Article 179 (4) of the Constitution designates the governor as the chief executive officer of the county. In its very abstract sense, being a CEO places a heavy burden on the governor insofar as the management of county affairs is concerned.

A CEO is the overall boss in an organisation company and wields unfettered power in the organisation. 

The drafters of the Constitution 2010 saw through the danger of a president-elect assuming office while having a pending case challenging his election.

The same constitution equates the powers of the governor to those of the President, but somehow the drafters allowed governors with pending petitions to assume. It is not uncommon for such governors to use the county funds to offset the debts accrued from the petitions.

Mr Sheikh is a governance and development consultant. [email protected].