Chama Cha Uzalendo wants Machakos senatorial by-election candidate Agnes Kavindu barred from the contest.
It says the Wiper candidate lacks the academic credentials to represent the county in the Senate.
The party, through MMS Advocates LLP, on Monday petitioned the High Court in Machakos to act on the matter expeditiously.
Among the prayers sought are a declaration that she does not possess a valid post-secondary school qualification, a declaration that she does not meet the educational requirement to run for MP and a declaration that the county returning officer and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission violated the Constitution by issuing her with a nomination certificate.
Also sought is an order quashing the issuance of the nomination certificate and her clearance to run for the seat and an order revoking her nomination.
CCU secretary general Phillipe Sadja termed it a constitutional matter that could not be solved through politics but law.
“We have filed our case before Justice Odunga of the High Court in Machakos. We still believe, as CCU, that one of the candidates, Agnes Kavindu of Wiper Democratic Party, was not nominated by the IEBC in the right manner,” he told reporters.
Sadja and Wilfred Musyoka are listed as petitioners, with county returning officer, Wiper, Agnes Kavindu and the IEBC as the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.
The petition was certified as urgent. They urged the court to hear it on a priority basis. The by-election is scheduled for Thursday.
“The petitioners have received credible information that the said candidate does not have the requisite educational requirements to contest the said election as she does not even have a primary school certificate.
“Under Section 22 of the Elections Act, 2021, the minimum educational requirement for a candidate contesting a senatorial election was a post-secondary school qualification.
"In 2017, Parliament amended Section 22 of the Elections Act, vide Section 8 of the Elections Laws (Amendment) Act, to require any aspirant vying as Member of Parliament to hold a degree from a university recognised in Kenya.
"The commencement of the said section was, however, suspended from operation until the general election to be held after the 2017 general election,” it reads.
The law firm states that where the amending law is suspended until a future date, Section 22 of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act provides that the former provision continues in force until the new provisions come into effect.
“It thus follows that despite the amendment to Section 22 of the Elections Act, 2011, the said provisions are still in force until the provisions of Section 8 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act comes into operations.”
The petitioners say the IEBC relied on Section 8 of the Elections Laws (Amendment) Act to hold that there is no educational requirement for any candidate contesting such elective position until the provisions come into force.
They say allowing Kavindu—who holds no primary education qualification, not to mention secondary school education—to vie, is a violation of the Elections Act, 2011, as supported by the Interpretation and General Provisions Act.
“The applications are apprehensive, understandably so, that unless the orders sought herein are granted, the 4th respondent’s illegality in allowing the 3rd respondent to vie for the said position will have allowed to stand and thus prejudicing the petitioners and the residents of Machakos county who have been made to believe there was no requirement for a candidate to the said by-election to possess any educational qualification."