A three-judge bench has dismissed a petition against former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, in his quest to vie for the Mombasa Gubernatorial race.
The High Court dismissed the petitions filed earlier to bar candidates with integrity questions from contesting the August Polls.
A three-judge bench said the cases touching on former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, Kiambu Senate aspirant Karungo Thang’wa, and MP Samuel Arama ( Nakuru Town West) were presented to the court prematurely.
“Jurisdiction of this court should not be invoked until the mechanisms before the IEBC are exhausted. We decline jurisdiction in those cases.” The judges said.
However, facing a contradiction from decision-makers as the matter solely lies with the commission’s disputes committee.
The probable conflict could arise from the fact that IEBC as an institution was mandated to bar the politicians with integrity issues from vying for possible electoral seats in this August polls.
At the hearing, IEBC Lawyer Edwin Mukele, however, told justices David Majanja, Chacha Mwita, and Mugure Thande that it has no jurisdiction to deal with issues around the acceptance of Sonko’s candidature.
