NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 18 —The Law Society of Kenya filed a suit on Monday seeking to stop the swearing in of Ann Kananu as Nairobi Governor.
The council is seeking a court order mandating a by-election within the 60-days legal timeline as provided for under Article 182 (5).
The suit is seeking to halt a plan to confirm Kananu as the substantive Governor after Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura relinquished stood down as Acting Governor on Monday.
Speaker Benson Mutura assumed office as Acting Governor following the impeachment of Governor Mike Sonko in December 2020, with the law requiring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to hold an election within sixty days.
But as he stepped down on Monday, Mutura said he handed over Kananu, on grounds that Nairobi has a substantive Deputy Governor who should assume to the office given the vacancy that exists.
Kananu’s impending inauguration as Governor is part of an elaborate scheme to evade a by-election which requires the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Election to hold a by-election within sixty days of the Speaker’s assumption as Acting Governor.
IEBC had set the date for the Nairobi by-elections on February 18, with several candidates having expressed interest in the seat.
The poll agency had said that the campaign period will run between January 18 and February 15.
The High Court, in a ruling issued on January 4, temporarily barred IEBC from conducting the Nairobi by-election, pending hearing and determination of an application by former Governor Mike Sonko.
Sonko had moved to court challenging his ouster saying that due process was not followed when he was removed from office.