Court throws out bid to halt governor-elect Nassir's swearing-in
Mombasa Governor-elect Abdulswamad Nassir. He faces a full in-tray as he takes over from Mr Hassan Joho following his poll victory.
The swearing-in of Mombasa governor-elect Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir will proceed on Thursday as planned after the High Court declined to stop it.
Judge Ann Ong’injo on Wednesday rejected a petition filed under a certificate of urgency to block Mr Nassir from assuming office.
Justice Ongi’njo said the petitioner, Mr Andrew Ombwayo, did not serve the other parties in the case who would have been affected if the conservatory orders suspending Mr Nassir’s oath-taking were issued.
Mr Ombwayo alleged that Mr Nassir benefited from a violation of the law when former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko was blocked from vying because he was impeached and removed from office.
“By locking out Mr Sonko from contesting, Mombasa residents were denied the opportunity to elect their leaders from an array of qualified contestants, which in turn violated his political rights,” he said.
He based his case on Section 33 of the County Government Act No 17 of 2012, which he says is inconsistent with the Constitution.
He wants this provision of the law declared unconstitutional. He also wants the court to rule that impeachments carried out by the Kiambu and Nairobi county assemblies under that provision of the law were illegal, null and void.
But the court noted that Mr Ombwayo had failed to establish a strong case to warrant the granting of conservatory orders.
“It is therefore the view of this court that before any far-reaching orders are issued, the parties ought to be given an opportunity to respond to the petition, which should then be disposed [of] as per the directions of the court,” Justice Ong’injo said.
Mr Ombwayo had argued that Mr Nassir would not suffer any prejudice if his swearing-in was stopped. He argued there would be no vacuum at the helm of the county if the swearing-in is halted.
“The executive authority of the county is exercised by the county executive committee and not the governor unilaterally,” he said.
“Consequently, stopping Mr Nassir from assuming office shall not prejudice the functions of the county but shall protect the rights of the public in that county.”
He wants the same declaration to apply to the resolutions of the Nairobi and Kiambu county assemblies and their adoption by the Senate that saw Mr Sonko and Ferdinand Waititu kicked out of office for gross misconduct.
“The applicant has lodged this application to stop Mr Nassir’s swearing-in in order to arrest the constitutional violations set out in the petition,” he said.
Mr Ombwayo argued that it was the impeachment of Mr Sonko that led to his disqualification from vying in Mombasa thereby denying voters a chance to pick him as their leader.
“That section of the County Government Act on removal of a county governor is inconsistent and renders the governors impeached invalid under Article 2 (4) of the Constitution,” he says.
Justice Ong’injo directed that the case be heard on September 19.
