BY SAM ALFAN.
The High Court has suspended the establishment of Elwak in Mandera County as a municipality.
Garissa High Court Judge Charles Kariuki suspended the Kenya Gazette Notice no. 3540 of May 5, 2020 issued by Mandera county government, pending hearing and determination of the case filed by three residents of Mandera.
The court further suspended the vacancies announced by the County in the Elwak municipality contained in the advertisement dated May 30, 2020 by the Mandera county public service board.
“A temporary conservatory order is hereby issued suspending the Kenya Gazette Notice no.3540 of May 15, 2020 issued by Mandera county government granting a charter for the establishment of Elwak municipality and consequential declaration of vacancies in the Elwak municipality as contained in the May 30,2020 advertisement by the Mandera county public service board”, ordered Kariuki.
Through lawyer Bryan Khaemba, Muhumed Hassan Deisow , Abdi Mahamud Osman and Said Hajir Sheikh argued that there was no public participation prior to the establishment and eventual granting of the charter for the establishment of the Elwak municipality.
Lawyer Khaemba submitted that under section 9 of the Urban Areas and Cities Act, Mandera county government is mandated to confer the status of a municipality to an existing town as opposed to an unclassified mass of land as it is the case in Elwak.
“The architecture of the Urban Areas and Cities Act running from sections 8, 9 and 10 is that an area starts by being classified as a town then in can be elevated to a municipality then from a municipality to a city,” Khaemba told the court.
He added that there is no town as Elwak south ward and Elwak North ward for it to be a starting unit for the conferment of the status of a municipality.
The three said that there is no existence of a town committee for Elwak North and Elwak South ” town” no such resolution was passed and no application was made to the county government executive committee for the establishment of the Elwak municipality.
They argued county government has no powers to delineate the boundary of the said Elwak municipality to be Elwak south ward and north ward.
