Sonko to wait longer for court verdict on quest for governor seat
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko will have to wait longer to know whether the court will clear him to contest for the Mombasa seat.
This is after Mombasa Resident judge John Mativo yesterday ruled that his hands were tied and he is unable to proceed with the issuance of any orders, in regards to two petitions seeking to bar Sonko (pictured) from vying for Mombasa's top seat.
Mativo made the declarations even as a Nairobi court issued orders barring the electoral commission from clearing former Kiambu Youth, Sports and Communications minister Karungo Thang’wa to seek any elective office in the August election.
Justice Anthony Mrima issued the orders yesterday and referred the matter to Chief Justice (CJ) Martha Koome for directions, just like in the Sonko case.
Transformative Constitution
Thang’wa, like Sonko was impeached by the Kiambu County assembly over alleged abuse of office.
In the Sonko matter, Justice Mativo noted that he had received communication from the office of the CJ, that a bench was being constituted to handle four petitions filed against Sonko in various courts across the country.
“At this stage, I am awaiting communication from the office of the CJ and as such, I cannot proceed with the matters before my court,” he said.
The judge further declined to issue orders as sought by Sonko’s lawyer Jared Magolo to bar some Kenyans from suing Sonko to bar him from August governor’s seat contest.
Although he termed the increased suits against Sonko as “interesting”, the judge noted that with the transformative Constitution, the court’s doors were open for any Kenyan to file their suit.
“I cannot stop anyone from making an application. We have to learn to live with it since the doors are wide open,” he said.
The court further declined to lift the orders issued barring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), from clearing Sonko’s nomination papers to allow him to contest, arguing that the former Nairobi governor will have to make a new application once the bench is constituted.
Consolidated cases
There are four petitions, two of them filed in Mombasa and the others in Nairobi and Eldoret.
Koome is expected to issue directions on how the petitions will be heard after constituting a bench to handle the consolidated cases.
All the four suits are seeking orders to have Sonko barred from vying in the August polls on grounds that his integrity is questionable.
