Sonko in court to overturn removal from office

 

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has challenged the decision by the Senate to uphold the County Assembly’s motion to remove him from office.

Sonko who moved to court on Monday says he is challenging the process under which he was impeached and removed from office.

Sonko said he will suffer irreparable damage not compensatable in monetary terms because he stands to lose his position as the second governor of Nairobi city county without the due process of the law, the rule of law and constitutionalism.

He wants the court to issue an order barring the implementation of the resolution passed by the Senate on December 17, 2020 to remove him from the office.

Through lawyer Wilfred Nyamu, Sonko further wants the court to bar the IEBC from holding elections for governor in Nairobi county.

Sonko has faulted the swearing in of the acting governor, arguing that no oath of assumption can be administered with the intention of filling the vacancy of governor until 10 days have lapsed from the date of the office falling vacant, and a notice has been given setting in motion the process of filling the office.

“The petitioner challenges the process under which he was removed setting out infringement of his fundamental rights and freedoms and violations of various provisions of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and other statutes,” read court papers.

He says there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the process did not meet the legal threshold, claiming that it was not transparent, accountable and verifiable and its integrity is in question.

“It is also well settled that some of the MCAs were in Kilifi county outside the jurisdiction of the Nairobi city county and it is not envisaged that they could vote either physically or virtually contrary to the provisions of the Standing Orders,” he says.

Sonko says some MCAs who were outside Nairobi have alleged that their accounts were hacked and corrupted.

He also claims that strangers purported to log in and vote on behalf of the MCAs who were in Kilifi.

According to the court papers, neither the law nor the Standing Orders provide for virtual voting or attendance of sessions of the Nairobi city county assembly.

“It is clear from the screenshots of the Zoom system used on the material date that some members logged into the system more than once with different accounts at the same time. There was double and in some cases quadruple logging into peoples’ accounts, which raises serious questions about the integrity of the process,” he says.

Sonko avers that the proceedings at the Nairobi city county assembly could not have been free and fair because there were a lot of threats, blackmail and intimidation which could not allow free objective debates, and that is why nothing is attached because no debate took place.

“Nairobi city County assembly has 122 MCAs but from the record 146 persons voted. In view of the foregoing, it follows that 24 strangers illegally participated in the process bringing the integrity of the process into question,” he says.