Member of Parliament for Gatundu South Moses Kuria has taken the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to court, accusing it of prejudice.
The legislator is appealing the Commission’s decision to prohibit presidential and gubernatorial candidates from selecting civil servants as running mates ahead of the August 9 elections.
Kuria filed the motion as ‘very urgent’ through his lawyer Geoffrey Omenke, citing the commission’s May 16 deadline for candidates to announce their running mates.
The Kiambu gubernatorial candidate says in court papers that the decision of the electoral commission is based on provisions of section 43(5) of the Elections Act.
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The said section states that “a public officer who intends to contest an election under this act shall resign from public office at least six months before the date of election”.
In a letter dated April 22, the IEBC notified the legislator that a running-mate could not be a government employee. The nominee must also be a member of the sponsoring political party.
The Commission stressed that if the running-mate nominee works for the government, he or she must have resigned on or before February 9, 2022, which is six months before the General Election on August 9.
Aspirants must propose someone who complies with section 43(5) of the Elections Act.
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Mr Kuria claims that the IEBC is interfering with the governor’s or presidential candidate’s right to nominate running mates.
“The response of IEBC meant that my choices of a running mate are very limited and it also denied me the opportunity to nominate a well deserving candidate on the basis of him/her not having complied with the said provisions of Elections Act,” he says.
He claims the IEBC’s decision is illegal because “Article 180(6) of the Constitution allows the Governor aspirant the right of designating a runner who shall not be subjected to the electoral body’s election process.”
According to him, the Commission’s response implies that a running-mate must have resigned six months before the General Election in expectation of being nominated.
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“The right to political interaction is one of the major pillars of any modern society. The discrimination in Section 43(5) of the Elections Act is absurd for it does not disclose the criteria on how a running mate should be nominated and it also determines that a person should resign on presumption of being nominated as a running mate,” he adds.
He wants the court to declare that the aforementioned section of the law is unconstitutional.
He has also requested the court to impose an injunction prohibiting the IEBC from requiring him to submit a running mate/deputy governor from a narrow pool of candidates while the case is being heard.
Presidential and gubernatorial candidates have until May 16 to nominate possible running mates.
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