Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has said he is in the race to reclaim his seat as he moves to the Supreme Court to challenge his impeachment.
Mr Sonko said he will only be written off politically if he is rejected by the people and not by a group of individuals who want to write his political obituary.
The ex-senator said he will not relent in his fight to prove his impeachment was illegal as he maintained that he will be vindicated by the Supreme Court.
“I will be moving to the Supreme Court by tomorrow (today) morning. My notice of appeal is even ready. The law is very clear – you have to exhaust all avenues of appeal. If I don’t proceed with the appeal, then it means I cannot vie,” he said.
“I was removed by the system, cartels and deep state and not rejected by the people. There are rumours all over but my resolve is to go back to the people and let them reject me or elect me back to my seat,”
He was, however, non-committal on his party of choice for the governorship race with the deadline fast approaching, saying he will soon declare his next move after filing the notice of appeal.
“I will have to file the notice of appeal then declare my next move because I will be complying with the law. Every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.”
Mr Sonko was impeached in December 2020, with 88 MCAs voting in favour of the censure motion and only two against.
He was accused of gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, abuse of office, commission of crimes under national laws and lacking the mental capability to run the county government.
The former Makadara MP, however, linked his woes to clashes with the “powers that be” on some issues and principles that led to his ouster from office, albeit in a manner he continues to contest.
It is the same people, he said, who are still determined to see him excluded from the ballot as they are scared of him.
“They are the same people who illegally removed me from office. They don’t want me on the ballot as they are scared of me,” he said.
The Senate upheld the resolution by the Nairobi County Assembly two weeks later with the seat subsequently being declared vacant.
Aggrieved by his impeachment, Mr Sonko challenged the decision in the High Court, asking judges to declare the impeachment null, void and invalid.
Activist Okiya Omtatah also filed another petition on January 12, 2021, seeking similar reliefs as Mr Sonko.
The two petitions would later be consolidated and referred to the Chief Justice to empanel a three-judge bench comprising Said Chitembwe, Weldon Korir and JJ Okwany to hear them.
The High Court dismissed the petitions on June 24, 2021, upholding Mr Sonko’s impeachment and issuing a decree on July 29, 2021.
Mr Sonko appealed the verdict in the Court of Appeal on July 30, 2021 but it was dismissed by a three-judge bench last week.
The bench, comprising Roselyn Nambuye, Hannah Okwengu and Dr Kibaya Laibuta, upheld the decree of the High Court bench, saying Mr Sonko’s impeachment was lawful and procedurally fair.
“(H)aving heard learned counsel for Hon Sonko and learned counsel for the respondents, we find and hold that Hon Sonko’s appeal fails on all grounds,” the judgment read.
However, Mr Sonko has accused the Judiciary of being infiltrated by politics, alleging that some judges have become brokers.
“Where are we heading as a country? If a person like Sonko, who still has political muscle can be treated unfairly, what about a poor Kenyan? The Judiciary is rotten,” he said.
Even though his two appeals have been dismissed, both at the High Court and the Court of Appeal, Mr Sonko said he was hopeful he would be vindicated by the Supreme Court.
“Yes I stand a chance. We have been having cases where people lose in the High Court and Court of Appeal and win at the Supreme Court,” he said.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) acting CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan said the law is clear that one must be found guilty and convicted in order to be barred from running for office.
But the law has a gap, he said, because it allows an individual to exhaust all available appeal mechanisms before he can be barred from vying.
“We follow the law and if there is a loophole we cannot close it. It is up to the legislature to fix it. Most of the time we are being blamed but it is what the law has provided for,” Mr Marjan said.
“Not unless that loophole is fixed, there is nothing we can do. We will just follow what the law says and (if) we go against it, we will be taken to court and the person will still be allowed to vie.”
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