BY SAM ALFAN.
Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko is demanding 30 milling shillings as cost from two petitioners who are challenging his election as the city boss.
Mr Sonko through lawyer Cecil Miller and Harrison Kinyanjui wants the election petition struck out claiming that the petition filed by Japhet Muroko and Zacheus Okoth Oliech amounts to a gross abuse of court process, incompetent, fatally defective and ought to be dismissed.
The Nairobi governor argues that failure to add his deputy governor Polycarp Igathe as a respondent in the election petition is fatal to the petition.
In the notice of motion filed in court, Sonko says that his elections as governor cannot be separated from that of his deputy.
“My motion is therefore based on fact that I find it compelling to save the court precious judicial time and resources and to avoid unnecessary litigation beyond this court,” reads court documents
The governor says that he had assumed that the petitioners would seek to enjoin his deputy in the petition but they have failed to do so, prompting him to file the applications.
“I protest at the petitioners insidious trampling on my Deputy Governor right to be fairly heard in this petition,” says Sonko
Sonko says that there being NO name and address of service cited for the second petitioner – Zacheus Okoth Oliech in the petition, the petition stands in fatal violation of the election rules 2017.
He says that he’s persuaded that Zacheus Okoth Oliech is not a legal petitioner and a stranger having never provided his name and address of service.
He claims that there’s no prayer in the petition seeking his nullification as the Nairobi City County Governor nor is there a plea on the reversal of his election.
“It would not serve the great public interest vesting in the Nairobi County residents to proceed any further with the fatally defective petition,” claims Sonko
It is Sonko’s argument that the court ought not to continue with the hearing of the election petition since it has no basis in law adding that the trail would be an exercise in futility.
IEBC will raise preliminary objection and seek the striking out of entire petition.
“The entire petition is incompetent for failure to enjoin the deputy governor Polycarp Igathe as respondent within the mandatory of 28 days of declaration of results and violation of Deputy Governor rights to a fair hearing under Article 50 of the constitution” says IEBC.
