Court gives CS two days to reply on Mwinzi Korean envoy case
The High Court yesterday gave Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma two days to respond to a suit filed by South Korean embassy nominee Mwende Mwinzi.
Justice James Makau said the court will proceed with hearing the matter tomorrow if the CS will not have filed her response by close of business today.
The judge’s order came after the lawyer representing Juma said she had not instructed him to any responses and submissions in the case in which Mwinzi is challenging the recommendation of a parliamentary committee to the President to replace her as a nominee, Kenya’s ambassador to Seoul.
The Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations made the decision after Mwinzi failed to renounce her US citizenship before she takes over the post.
Won’t renounce
But Mwinzi, through lawyer Tom Ojienda, argues that the MPs’ recommendation was unconstitutional.
She claims that being a US citizen by birth, she cannot renounce it as recommended by the House committee.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) has applied to be enjoined in the case.
Through lawyer Charles Omanga, the alliance argues that Mwinzi has been an active player in the welfare of Kenyans in the diaspora who hold dual citizenship.
“Unless the court allows the application, Mwinzi will suffer prejudice because we would have been denied the opportunity to legally challenge the flawed division which can affect its members appointed in various government positions,” he said.
Omanga said KDA will demonstrate to the court that the MPs grossly violated the Constitution by purporting to reject Mwinzi’s nomination on grounds of her dual citizenship.
