Suit challenging Wajackoyah candidature certified as urgent
Lawyer Benard Odero Okello at the Milimani Law Courts Nairobi on July 10, 2022. He has petitioned the court to Roots Party [presidential flagbearer George Wajackoyah mentally unfit to hold public office.
The High Court has certified as urgent a petition seeking to disqualify Roots Party candidate George Wajackoyah from the presidential race for allegedly breaching the law by encouraging the growth and sale of bhang.
Justice Hedwig Ong’udi directed the petitioner, Mr Bernard Odero Okello, to furnish Prof Wajackoyah and the electoral commission with the suit papers within three days so that they can file responses.
Mr Okello moved to court after feeling aggrieved by Prof Wajackoyah’s message about the trade of bhang, rearing of snakes and harvesting and sale of wild animals’ body parts. The petitioner wants the court to declare the aspirant mentally unfit to hold public office.
The petitioner is seeking a court’s declaration that Prof Wajackoyah’s intentions are unconstitutional, regressive and present a threat to the Constitution as well as the constitutional order.
He is also urging the court to quash his nomination by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to vie for the presidency.
Mr Okello wants the court to order the aspirant to retract all “untrue” statements in his manifesto and those made in public gathering.
The basis of his prayer in court is Article 35 (2), which states that “every person has a right to the correction or deletion of untrue or misleading information that affects the person”.
Besides Prof Wajackoyah, Mr Okello is seeking a declaration that all presidential candidates must be subjected to a compulsory mental test before being cleared to vie for the position of the president.
Presidential candidates
“It ought to be mandatory for all presidential candidates, public officers and state officers to be subjected to mandatory mental tests before being cleared to vie and or contest for public office or being appointed to public offices as the case may be,” he said.
He argued that the electoral commission abdicated its duty by failing to subject presidential candidates and others seeking public offices to a mandatory mental test before clearing them.
Presidential candidate Prof George Wajackoyah and his running mate Justina Wambui at the Bomas of Kenya Nairobi on June 2, 2022 during their clearance process by the electoral body.
“IEBC is duty bound to publish all information or criterion used to clear candidates including but not limited to citizenship status, allegiance to the country and mental soundness before being cleared to run for any public office including that of the president,” he said.
He has named Prof Wajackoyah and the IEBC as respondents while the Kenya National Human Rights, Kenya National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the British High Commission as interested parties.
Pitfalls emerged
Mr Okello claimed that after Prof Wajackoyah’s clearance on June 17, some pitfalls emerged, which came to the fore when he released his manifesto.
The Roots flagbearer said he would legalise bhang, promote snake farming, export dog meat, hang the corrupt and suspend the constitution. He also pledged to shut down the Standard Gauge Railway, promote a four-day work week, move the capital from Nairobi to Isiolo, create eight states and depot idle foreigners.
Mr Okello said shutting down SGR will lead to loss of over Sh300 billion invested in the project, adding that growth and export of bhang is illegal.
The case will be mentioned on July 18.
