Court stops swearing in of Dorothy Nditi to replace Martin Wambora

Dorothy Nditi Embu deputy governor, the High Court has decided she cannot be sworn in to replace Martin Wambora. [PHOTO: STANDARD/FILE]

By WAINAINA NDUNG’U

EMBU COUNTY: The High Court stopped the swearing in of Embu deputy governor until a suit filed by embattled governor Martin Wambora is heard and concluded.

Justices Hedwig Ong’undi, Cecilia Githua and Boaz Olao ruled that the deputy, Dorothy Nditi, acts as the governor as if her boss was absent as provided by the Constitution.

The judges ruled that it would be prejudicial to have the deputy sworn in before the conclusion of the legal challenge.

They said her swearing in would automatically mean that she was to serve the remainder of the term of the impeached governor.

In declining to reinstate the governor pending the hearing, the judges said that would also be unfair because he had already been impeached and they had not listened to his argument challenging the process.

They also took note that the county assembly and the Senate proceeded with impeachment despite the existence of court orders.

“The Constitution states that in the absence of the governor the deputy shall act,” the judges said.

VICTORY FOR WAMBORA

Lawyer Kibe Mungai for Nditi said after the judgment that they were happy with the outcome. “It is an important victory for us because she is now the acting governor. All we wanted was to ensure there was clarity on the ground. She is clear about her mandate,” said Mungai.

The judges said the impeached governor had demonstrated that he had a case with high probability of success and all they needed was to issue a conservatory order in his support.

Wambora was not in court yesterday but Kirinyaga Governor Joseph Ndathi was in court throughout the session. Ahmednassir Abdullahi said they were extremely happy with the outcome.