Court dismisses petition against Granton Samboja’s win
Governor Granton Samboja’s supporters celebrate outside Voi High Court after a petition challenging his election was dismissed on January 25, 2018. PHOTO | LUCY MKANYIKA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
A petition challenging the election of Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja’s win has been dismissed.
High Court Judge Erick Ogola dismissed the petition to give way for the constitutional petition in Milimani High Court filed by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission challenging the governor’s academic certificates to be heard and determined.
Justice Ogola ruled in Voi that the court will be in prejudice if the two courts had contradictory rulings.
“The issue of lack of academic qualifications is the sole denominator between this petition and the one filed in Nairobi.
These two petitions are currently proceeding with absurdity and can embarrass the court should it arrive at conflicting decisions,” he said.
VALID CERTS
The judge said continuing with the petition will be an exercise in futility should the court determine that the governor had valid certificates only for Milimani Court to find the contrary.
The judge further noted that the Milimani High Court was better placed to determine whether the governor indeed had the required academic qualifications or not.
He said the criminal investigation agencies which are able to determine the validity of the governor’s degree were not party in the petition before him contrary to the petition before Milimani High Court.
This, he said, would make it difficult for the court to determine whether the governor qualified to vie for the gubernatorial seat or not.
“All the criminal investigative agencies including EACC, DPP, Director of criminal investigation, the Attorney General as well as the Kenyatta University which allegedly issued the disputed university degree are involved,” he said.
Justice Erick Ogola delivers the ruling on the case against the election of Governor Granton Samboja. PHOTO | LUCY MKANYIKA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
He also said considering that the court had limited time to determine the election petition stating the period of time would not be enough to investigate the validity of the governor’s degree.
The governor through his lawyer, Edwin Ayiro had argued that the case was not about elections so should be handled by the relevant bodies instituted by the government.
Lawyer Ayiro had said a similar case was ongoing at the Milimani Law Court in Nairobi and asked the court to dismiss the petition and wait for the Milimani Law Court’s ruling.
“This matter is not supposed to be heard at an electoral court. Investigations into the governor’s certificate are being done by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and we should wait for its findings,” he said on December 15, 2017.
Justice Ogola ordered each party would bear its own costs.
The petition was filed by a voter Mr Armstrong Mwandoo Kiwoi challenging the academic qualifications of Mr Samboja.
On December 15, 2017 the judge admitted a second petitioner, Thomas Njumwa after Mr Kiwoi showed signs of withdrawing the petition.
