Presidential Candidate Wajackoyah Dragged To Court Over Mental Fitness

A Nairobi lawyer has filed a case to prevent Prof George Wajackoyah, the presidential candidate for the Roots Party, from running in the 2022 general election.

Prof Wajackoyah, according to Bernard Okello Odero, has acted in a way that could bring the presidency into discredit, and at times, “his behaviour has called his soundness of mind into doubt.”

He further asserts that before approving Wajackoyah to vie for the position, the IEBC neglected to subject him to a psychiatric examination to determine his mental fitness.

Mr Okello submitted before the court that the presidential hopeful broke the law when he pledged to suspend the constitution and threatened to hang politicians he believed to be corrupt during the June 30 launch of his 10-point manifesto.

Read: Presidential Hopeful Wajackoyah Refutes Dual Citizenship Claims

In his manifesto, Wajackoyah promised to deport all idle foreigners, legalize marijuana, export dog meat, legalize snake farming, suspend the Constitution, shut down the Standard Gauge Railway, institute a four-day work week, relocate the capital to Isiolo, create eight new states, and hang the corrupt.

“This contravenes the constitutional provision of the right to life and freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to the international obligation of Kenya as ratified in various human rights treaties,” court documents show.

Odero further told the court that the presidential candidate for the Roots Party is married to an American citizen who has never changed nationality or obtained Kenyan citizenship and who has always resided permanently in America as of the petition’s submission.

“…his children were all born in America and live in the United Kingdom where they are now citizens hence putting the allegiance of the 1st respondent as a requisite for vying for the position of the president in question as required under the constitution…” they read further.

Read Also: Presidential Hopeful Wajackoyah’s Dual Citizenship Under Scrutiny

In order to explain the Roots Party presidential candidate’s eligibility to run for office, Okello wants the court to order Wajackoyah, IEBC, and the British High Commission to submit information about the candidate’s citizenship status.

Additionally, he wants the presidential hopeful’s access to any public funds for political campaigns to be halted until the outcome of his appeal is known.

In order to evaluate their eligibility to run for public office, Okello also wants all other presidential contenders and candidates running for elective seats to undergo a mandatory mental evaluation test by a State examiner.

“To some extent, it has occurred to the petitioner that the First Respondent may not be of sound mind. Also worryingly is that IEBC did not make public the finding of assessment of the qualifications of presidential candidates either on their mental soundness, citizenship and other criterion set by the Constitution as a requirement,” Okello said.

Read Also: Wajackoyah To Move Capital City to Isiolo, Shut Down SGR

The Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission, the British High Commission in Kenya, and NACADA have been listed as interested parties, while Wajackoyah and IEBC have been named as the first and second respondents.

Last week, the presidential hopeful refuted the dual citizenship claims doing rounds on the internet.

He maintained that he has never changed his citizenship even though he attempted to vie for member of parliament in Tottenham, UK.

“These people ought to read. They ought to just go to the internet and google. They are wasting their time writing to the embassy. Nobody is deporting me as I’m a Kenyan by birth with high levels of education,” he said.