The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition that sought to have Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, Musalia Mudavadi, Peter Kenneth, and running mates Kalonzo Musyoka and William Ruto blocked from being on the ballot.
Two Supreme Courtjudges Mohammed Ibrahim and JB Ojwangâ allowed an objection by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and ruled the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the case.
âAt this point itâs clear to us that the Supreme Courtlacks jurisdiction to entertain the petition,â they ruled.
The judges, however, did not state reasons for their decision saying they would do so on March 27, after the general election.
That one line pronouncement cleared the way for the presidential candidates to run for president.
mr aluochier
The petition, which had been pending at the court since February 5, had been filed by Isaac Aluochier, a voter in Migori County.
Aluochier was arguing that the top presidential candidates should not have been nominated to vie for the seats, as they were constitutionally unqualified.
He had argued that Raila, Uhuru, Mudavadi, and Kenneth were already State officers when they were nominated by their parties hence should not have been cleared by the IEBC.
The four still hold State offices as Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and Planning Assistant minister.
While the constitution allows a sitting president and deputy president to run for the two seats, it does not allow the PM, DPM and ministers, he said.
He further argued the four cannot argue that they were MPs because by the time of their nominations, parliamentâs term had already ended.
Source:standardmedia.co.ke
