President Uhuru enjoined in Harun Mwau's case to stop October 26 election

President Uhuru Kenyatta has joined a case by former Kilome MP Harun Mwau seeking to stop the October 26 repeat election.

Mr Mwau wants the court to stop the October 26 election arguing the electoral agency has already broken the law by gazetting names of the candidates without a mandatory nomination exercise.

Uhuru’s lawyers argued being a candidate in the polls, he is entitled to give his opinion in the case which, if successful, could scuttle the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's (IEBC) preparations for the polls.

Attorney General Githu Muigai and Thirdway Alliance presidential candidate Ekuru Aukot will also join the case as interested parties.

“Having considered the applications, I find that Mr Kenyatta and Mr Aukot would be directly affected by any decision made by the court and is only fair if they are joined to argue their case as interested parties,” ruled Justice Chacha Mwita.

Public interest

The AG had argued that since the presidential election is a matter of great public interest, he needs to be enjoined in the case to defend public rights.

If successful, Mwau’s case could take the commission back to the drawing board of the presidential election process.

It could also lead to a constitutional crisis should IEBC fail to conduct the elections by November 1, which is the last day of the 60 days granted by the Supreme Court for fresh elections.

Through his lawyer Nicholas Musyoki, Mwau argues after the Supreme Court nullified the August 8 presidential poll and ordered a fresh election, IEBC had no choice but to start a fresh nomination process.

He argues that, based on the Supreme Court decision and the High Court clarification on what constitutes a fresh presidential election, the entire presidential election on August 8 had no legal effect, leaving IEBC with no choice but to start the process afresh.

“It is only after nomination that a candidate qualifies to participate in a presidential election. What IEBC did by gazetting the candidates was illegal,” argues Mwau.

He wants the court to declare the repeat poll scheduled for October 26 null and void, on account IEBC did not follow the correct procedure of conducting a fresh election.

Justice Mwita gave IEBC, Uhuru, Aukot and Prof Muigai up to tomorrow evening to file their responses and scheduled the hearing for October 23.