Elachi free to lead Assembly sittings, court now rules
The High Court yesterday set aside a consent order that stopped embattled Nairobi City County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi from presiding over the Assembly sittings.
Justice James Makau suspended the consent following an application by Elachi claiming that she did not appoint the advocates who claimed to represent her in the suit which had been filed by Joy Furaha Mranja.
Elachi through lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui accused Musyoki Mogaka Advocates law firm, which purported to represent her in the matter, of colluding with the petitioner to remove her as the Speaker of Nairobi City County Assembly.
The High Court on October 25, recorded a consent between Mranja and the law firm of Musyoki Mogaka Advocates who claimed to represent Elachi.
The consent stopped Elachi from going or presiding over the sittings of the Nairobi City County Assembly or its sittings until an application by Mranji was heard and determined.
However, Elachi claims the consent order was obtained through apparent collusion of the advocates and was calculated at an oblique removal of her as the Speaker of Nairobi City County through advocates masquerading as her legal representatives.
“Her rights to move freely within the Republic and particularly in the discharge of her constitutional and statutory functions have been compromised and curtailed following the consent order of an advocate she did not appoint,” stated Kinyanjui in court documents.
Elachi wants the purported representation in the proceedings by Musyoki Mogaka Advocates be nullified and all process lodged on behalf of Elachi by the law firm be struck out.
“No authority oral or written, was ever given to Elachi’s purported advocates in these proceedings to defend the same or otherwise participate in any aspect herein on behalf of Elachi,” argued Kinyanjui.
According to Elachi’s lawyer, no communication or meeting between Elachi and the said law firm was ever passed permitting such purported representation of her by Musyoki Mogaka & Co Advocates.
“As such no Advocate-client relationship has ever happened between Elachi and the said Musyoki Mogaka and company advocates to enter into any consent in these or any other proceedings on behalf of Elachi,” argued Kinyanjui.
It is Elachi’s argument that the advocates purporting to be on record for her did so on their own motion without even alerting her at all at any stage until she noticed from the impugned order dated October 25 brought to her attention on October 29.
The embattled Speaker further argues that she has never been served with any process by Mranja and no affidavit of service was ever filed in the proceedings by a licensed process server indicating how, when and to whom process was served to her.
She argues that the petition is lodged with malice aforethought as the advocates allegedly appearing for her colluded to secure the consent order.
