A motion and petition contesting the qualifications of Rigathi Gachagua to serve as Kenya’s deputy president were dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Kenneth Njagi, Meshack Churchill, Jackson Mwalulu, Beatrice Kamau, Amos Wafula, Sophie Dola, Julia Wanjiku, James Maina, Simon Lokoma, Carolyne Ayitso, and Johnson Mwakaba are among the 11 people who submitted the petition on August 8, the day before the general election.
The seven-judge court argued in the decision that the petitioners’ justifications were invalid.
The court ruled that “the objections raised by the first to fifth respondents in respect of the Notice of Motion dated August 5, 2022, and Petition dated 5th are hereby struck out” and that “the Notice of Motion and petition dated August 5, 2022 is for the reasons given, incompetent and are hereby struck out.”
To wit: a declaration that the second respondent is ineligible and unqualified to serve as deputy president due to his violation of Chapter Six of the Constitution and Articles 99 (1) as read with Article 148 (1) of the Constitution, according to the petition.
Additionally, they wished for the nomination of Gachagua as a running partner to be ruled invalid by the court.
Additionally, the petitioners claimed that Gachagua’s designation as a candidate for deputy president in the elections of August 9 was a violation of the Constitution by President-elect William Ruto.
“A declaration that the nomination of the second respondent as a candidate for deputy president in the general elections held on August 9 breached Articles 99 (1), as read with Articles 137 (1), and 148 (1) of the Constitution by the first respondent,”
Additionally, the petitioners requested that the court issue an order invalidating the July 1 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Gazette Notice No. 7995.
William Ruto and Rigathi Gachagua were officially announced as the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
The applicants, according to the courts, requested a directive to prevent the president-elect and his deputy-elect from taking the oath of office after winning the election.
The petition and motion were both deemed incompetent by the supreme court, which stated that they “are an abuse of the Court and need to be stricken out.”
