From the onset, I don’t think it is Rigathi Gachagua but Kenyans who are filing cases because they are seeing their constitution being mutilated day and night.
Therefore, even if there were only four or two petitions, the matter is not going to be resolved soon.
It should also be clear that the High Court has jurisdiction in this matter.
Whichever way it rules, the aggrieved party has a right to appeal.
If that’s the case, the Court of Appeal will sit, hear and come up with a decision, which is also subject to be challenged at the Supreme Court.
The latter will be the final destination for this matter as I see it.
It is not only matters touching on the election of the president where the Supreme Court has jurisdiction.
This is a matter of nomination arising from a constitutional dictate and hence can easily be dealt with at the High Court, and those questioning its jurisdiction are misplaced.
Petitions can be 1,000 but they can be consolidated into a lead file.
Litigation cannot go on forever. There is a gap in the Constitution that should have provided for a timeline for such matters as is with the presidential election petition, which the Supreme Court has to conclude within 14 days.
The Constitution is silent on this.
There should be a prescribed timeframe within which you can challenge an impeachment and the nomination that follows.
This would help deal with the situation of ‘ninja petitions’ which keep on springing up. I can walk to Kisii and file my petition since I have a right to file, and they must listen to me.
There should be room for the aggrieved party to file a petition challenging the decision at the said stages – impeachment, nomination and vote by the National Assembly.
Just as they were insisting on public participation, the next question is whether the public has room to challenge the process.
For instance, what we see now is already a miscarriage, as there is no duly constituted IEBC. It is the commission’s work to verify the validity of the candidate.
The President cannot purport to vet, nominate and present the nominee without a substantive IEBC.
There are so many gaps in this process and the courts can easily nullify the appointment of Kithure Kindiki and leave Gachagua as the bona fi de Deputy President.
Thlawyer spoke to Star