Court allows Malala to present his papers to IEBC

Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala can present his nomination papers to the electoral commission as he seeks clearance to run for governor, the High Court has ruled.

Justice Patrick J. Otieno had on Monday barred Mr Malala from submitting the papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) until a petition challenging his academic qualifications was determined.

However, because aspirants must present their papers to the IEBC by today, June 7, the judge had to tweak his earlier order to allow Mr Malala to meet the deadline.

But he ordered the IEBC not to gazette Mr Malala as a candidate until the petition is determined.

The petition will be heard today at 2.30pm. The petitioner was directed to serve the parties by 6pm on Monday.

Shortly after the judge issued his new order, Mr Malala arrived in court with his supporters and started engaging his lawyer animatedly.

The lawyer, Charles Malala, had told the court that the earlier order would be prejudicial to his client.

“If my client is not allowed to present his papers to the IEBC tomorrow (Tuesday), he will end up being locked out of the elections,” he said.

“We have [an] abundance of evidence that we present to court indicating that our client has the required qualifications to run for the governorship seat.”

In the petition filed by Frankline Shilingi Anguche, the senator and United States International University listed as the first and second respondents, respectively.

Others are the IEBC and returning officer Joseph Ayatia. The Commission for University of Education (CUE), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are listed as interested parties.

Advocate Malala and Ms Ruth Yator told the court that they had not been served with the petition.

“All we were served with are the orders directing that the petition be transferred to Kakamega for further directions,” said Ms Yator.

For his part, lawyer Malala said he had learnt of the petitions that were circulating on social media.

In court papers seen by the Nation, Mr Anguche claimed Senator Malala’s academic qualifications were not authentic.

He wants the court to compel the senator to shed light on whether his academic certificates are genuine.

“The 1st respondent is scheduled to present his papers before the 3rd respondent (IEBC) on 7th June 2022 for purposes of being cleared to vie for the seat of governor of Kakamega which date is fast approaching,” Mr Anguche said in court documents.

“It is imperative that this honourable court stops the acceptance of the 1st respondent’s fraudulent papers and compel the 2nd respondent (United States International University–Africa) to confirm the authenticity of the degree certificate that the 1st respondent alleges to have earned at their institution.”

The judge will issue directions on the second petition filed by Mr Fred Muka on Tuesday.

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