Kethi poll case set for ‘marathon hearing’

By Wahome Thuku

Nairobi, Kenya: The fate of lawyer Kethi Kilonzo’s candidature for Mukueni senatorial by-electioncould be determined as early as Tuesday.

Three High Court judges have set aside this morning for marathon oral submissions by lawyers in the petition filed by Kethi and her Wiper party seeking to have her included in the polls.

Pressed with a tight constitutional timeline, which expires Saturday next week, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) pleaded with the court to hear and determine the petition by Tuesday.

This would enable them prepare the ballot papers and other electoral material on time.

Kethi and Wiper are challenging IEBC Disputes Resolution Committee decision to nullify her nomination to contest the Makueni Senate seat left vacant following the death of her father Mutula Kilonzo.

The young lawyer had been nominated by Makueni County Returning Officer but the committee revoked the nomination after concluding that she was not duly registered as a voter.

Voters register

Kethi maintains in the petition that she was registered as a voter in Langata, Nairobi last year and issued with an acknowledgement slip at Ngong Forest Primary School. She says she used her expired passport and a copy of her identification card to register.

But her name does not feature in any register of voters. The committee also ordered for investigation into the manner in which she had acquired the acknowledgement slip, which IEBC claims was stolen from their custody.

Kethi argues that the committee violated her fundamental rights by locking her out of the polls. She says the committee had no legal authority to hear the complaint against her lodged by leaders affiliated to Jubilee coalition. Wiper also claims it has been denied a right to field a candidate of choice for Makueni seat.

Last week, Kethi and Wiper managed to have the by-election rescheduled from July 22 to July 26, just a day to the deadline.

The case has eight other interested parties, including Kethi’s political rivals. The parties have up to this morning to have exchanged all papers and filed their submissions. They will then go before Judges Richard Mwongo, Weldon Korir and Mumbi Ngugi at mid-morning to highlight their cases.

The court asked the lawyers to agree and prepare a list of all contested issues to be determined by the court.

However, the court would set out the issues for determination if the lawyers failed to agree. Earlier, the judges rejected an application by political activist Isaac Aluochier to be enjoined as amicus curie (friend of the court).

He had applied to be enjoined in the case to challenge the legality of both IEBC and Wiper to nominate any candidate for the Makueni seat, saying they had already violated the Constitution and Elections Act in nomination of Mr Kilonzo early this year.