An activist has filed a petition seeking to block Chief Justice Martha Koome and her Deputy Philomena Mwilu or any judge from East Africa from swearing designated Deputy President Professor Kithure Kindiki.
Joseph Aura wants the court to declare that the process leading to the purported nomination, vetting and approval of Kindiki for appointment as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya by the President of the Republic of Kenya vide the letter dated 18th October 2024 and the members of the National Assembly by their decision dated 18th October 2024 to approve the appointment of the said Prof Kindiki as Kenya’s Deputy President was unconstitutional, illegal, and procedurally flawed ab initio.
Through lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, Aura wants the court to declare that neither the Speaker nor the National Assembly of Kenya has power to declare the position of the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya as purported by the Speaker of National Assembly’s Gazette Notice dated 18th October 2024 as contained in Kenya Gazette Notice No. 13401 Vol. CXXVI- No. 171, save the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya (IEBC).
The petitioner further wants the court to issue a conservatory order prohibiting any execution, or further execution, of the National Assembly’s decision to impeach Rigathi Gachagua as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya as communicated to the Senate House of Parliament on 8th October 2024 by a Message in respect of the Resolution of the National Assembly on its approval of a Special Motion on the Removal from Office.
Aura argues that section 11 (a) of the Leadership and Integrity Act binds all State Officers including the Speaker of the National Assembly to carry out duties of the office of the Speaker in a manner that maintains public confidence in the integrity of the office…..
“…….and by openly stating that he was welcoming the impeachment of the Deputy President of Kenya by the impugned Motion, he breached this provision,” the petitioner claimed.
According to the petitioner, the Speaker of the National Assembly breached this provision and displayed himself as incapable of exercising rational and dispassionate objectivity in dealing with the subject of the impugned motion hence he stands disqualified from in any manner dealing with it.
Aura also wants the case to be placed before Chief Justice Martha Koome to empanel a bench to hear the matter on grounds that it raises substantial questions of law.