Supreme Court hands Machakos Governor Mutua lifeline

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua at a past function. [File, Standard]

Machakos governor Alfred Mutua has breathed a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court set aside a judgment by the Court of Appeal nullifying his election victory.

The highest court in the land also restrained the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from certifying the Machakos gubernatorial seat vacant, pending hearing and determination of an appeal filed in the same court by Dr Mutua.

The Supreme Court also issued similar orders to the Speaker of Machakos County assembly restraining her from assuming the office of the governor and also restrained the IEBC from announcing or conducting gubernatorial elections in Machakos County pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

The development put to rest persistent calls by Members of the County Assembly allied to Wiper party, who have been frequently urging the IEBC to declare the Machakos gubernatorial seat vacant, and pave way for Speaker Florence Mwangangi to assume the office of the governor until another election is conducted.

On Tuesday evening, the MCAs led by Mitaboni Ward representative, Fredrick Muthoka held a press briefing outside the assembly chambers where they claimed Dr Mutua was illegally in office.

On June 8th this year, the court of appeal nullified Dr Mutua’s election after former Kathiani MP, Wavinya Ndeti challenged the judgment delivered by the High Court in Machakos which initially upheld Dr Mutua’s election win.

This means Dr Mutua will continue to execute his duties as governor until the Supreme Court hears and determines his appeal.

Earlier, the county assembly declined to grant deputy governor, Francis Maliti who is also the Finance County Executive Committee Member audience to present the 2018/19 budget estimates.

However, MCAs allied to Dr Mutua distanced themselves from the move, saying the move by their colleagues was malicious and politically instigated.

“We read malice, ill-motive, mischief and bad faith to frustrate the county government efforts to empower its people through development projects and programs,” said the assembly’s minority leader, Alex Kamitu.