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BY SAM ALFAN.
Embatled electoral body commissioner Irene Masit has suffered a blow after the High Court declined to stop the tribunal appointed to probe her conduct from commencing the sittings today.
Justice Mugure Thande declined to grant the conservatory orders saying she wanted to hear the petition first.
“I decline to grant conservatory orders until I hear the petition on merit…In view of the urgency of the matter I direct the petitioner to file the submission on the petition and the notice of motion by 22 December for highlighting on 23rd December,” directed Judge Thande .
Commissioner Masit moved to court to challenge her removal and to stop the tribunal chaired by Court of Appeal judge Aggrey Muchelule from probing her conduct into the August 9 presidential polls.
Masit is among four commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials who were suspended by President William Ruto, after four petitions were filed in Parliament.
Parliament’s departmental committee on justice and legal affairs recommended that she and four other commissioners be probed.
Two commissioners- vice chairperson Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya and Francis Wanderi have already resigned leaving Masit to face the tribunal chaired by Court of Appeal judge Aggrey Muchelule.
Through lawyer Donald Kipkorir, Masit wants the court to reinstate her and also block any plans for her replacement at the IEBC.
She further wants all her privileges that have been withdrawn reinstated.
“At the inter-partes hearing, the contractual rights of the petitioner existing ante December 2nd 2022 as IEBC commissioner be reinstated,”seeks Masit.
In the urgent application, Masit wants Justice Muchelule’s tribunal stopped from commencing the probe.
Masit also wants the court to temporarily suspend the effect of gazette notice dated December 2, 2022 suspending and her fellow commissioners pending investigations by a tribunal named to probe their conduct.
In her court documents, the suspended commissioner wants the court to quash the report by DCJLA to parliament to remove her as commissioner.
The petitioner claims that the four petitions by the republican liberty party, Rev. Denis N. Nthumbi, Geoffrey Langat and Awuor Steve Gerry filed before the parliamentary committee have no constitutional, statutory and legal substratum.
She argues that the National Assembly, DCJLA, Gitonga Muragara and the Muchelule tribunal acted with bias and without impartiality. She adds that the proceedings were in open contempt of the constitution and the cited statues and law.
She claims that the proceedings violated Supreme Court decision in the presidential petition and the decision to probe her was made in bad faith, bias and improper purpose.
Masit claims that on December 1 as the DCJLA was presenting its report to parliament, the IEBC gave them a memo that they were to start a review of 2022 general elections in December 4.
On December 2nd, the said gazette notice was issued establishing a tribunal for her removal as IEBC commissioner.
On the gazette notice and the IEBC internal memo were concurrent in not perchance but deliberately calculated to lock her out of participating in the IEBC commission reviews of 2022 general elections.