Governor Sonko turns to court in fight against impeachment
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko at the Milimani Law Courts on October 06, 2020 during the hearing of his Sh14 million corruption case.
Embattled Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is headed to court Monday to challenge the process leading to his ouster last Thursday, arguing it was littered with illegalities.
Sonko also wants to cite the assembly clerk and Speaker Ben Mutura for contempt of court as they proceeded with the motion despite an order stopping the process.
He says the Senate cannot be party to illegalities especially since he served it with an order stopping the process and the virtual meeting, due to lack of a framework guiding its application by the assembly.
According to Sonko, a court order he obtained in February stopped any impeachment process pending the determination of his case.
The order was extended several times, the latest being on October 23, when Employment and Labour Relations court judge Byram Ongaya dismissed an objection by the clerk, challenging the powers of the court to stop the MCAs from debating the motion.
The governor's lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui served Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka with a copy of the ruling and the orders. It is his argument that this barred him from receiving the resolution from Mr Mutura and blocked the debate.
Double jeopardy
On November 26, Mr Michael Ogada Okumu filed a fresh motion seeking to impeach Mr Sonko yet the earlier case had not been determined.
Regarding this, Governor Sonko says the assembly cannot lawfully have multiple impeachment motions against him as this exposes him to double jeopardy.
He also notes that over 62 MCAs swore affidavits saying they never appended their signatures in support of the motion and claims he was not furnished with the reasons for his removal.
At the hearing, Sonko will also be challenging the issue of virtual voting, arguing that it is not known in law. He says Parliament has not enacted legislation to give effect to this platform. Mr Mutura apparently allowed the virtual meeting due to the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Sonko had managed to stop the process on Tuesday after Justice Nzioki wa Makau ruled that the case was arguable.
The judge then directed all parties to appear in court on Thursday, the day MCAs planned to debate Mr Ogada’s motion.
Fair hearing
Sonko maintains that the law does not allow the filing of a fresh impeachment motion as a case he filed in February challenging a motion by Peter Imwatok, who is also the Minority Whip, is still pending.
He said despite directions from the court on the hearing of the earlier case, Speaker Mutura, the MCAs and the clerk had not filed any response, delaying the conclusion of the matter.
Sonko also says he sought to be supplied with copies of the motion and those supporting the process on November 27, as a matter of right, but that they were not given to him because it doesn’t exist.
“The respondents cannot lawfully have a multiplicity of impeachment motions pending or un-procedurally adjudicated against the petitioner before it, as has now happened, thereby exposing the petitioner to double jeopardy,” he says.
He said having subjected them to the authority and the jurisdiction of the court, the least the MCAs can do is to ensure the earlier case is determined on merit.
“In its totality, the said act is not only contumacious, standing in contempt of the order of this honourable court but also equally constitutes a gross abuse of court process,” Sonko says in an affidavit.
Sonko further says the impeachment process by Mr Ogada does not meet the constitutional threshold of public participation because the public was given two days to give views.
'Saving Nairobi'
Mr Ogada rallied the county legislators to impeach the governor for alleged gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, abuse of office, commission of crimes under the national laws and lacking the mental capability to run the county government.
“This House has no option but to exercise the power of impeachment. The plane has landed and it is now our time to stand and be counted by not allowing the county government to go to the dogs," he said.
Seconding the motion, majority leader Abdi Guyo said the bid to remove Sonko from office was necessitated by the need to restore normal operations at the county government to ensure services reach Nairobi residents.
But Sonko challenges the process, saying some MCAs have already filed complaints of impersonation with the police after unknown persons used their login details to vote.
The governor, who trounced Dr Evans Kidero in the 2017 polls on a Jubilee Party ticket, also claims some MCAs tried blackmailing him - asking for money for a trip to Dubai - just before the impeachment motion was tabled.
