woman files petition to bar governors from Senate seat

Council of Governors (COG) re-elected Chairman Martin Wambora and his deputy James Ongwae flanked by other governors addressing the media as they unveiled the new office although most of them were re-elected. [Jenipher Wachie, Standard]

A petition seeking to bar former governors from vying for Senate and National Assembly seats in the August 9 polls has been filed at the Constitutional Court in Mombasa.

The petitioner, Caroline Chilango argues that if former governors are elected senators they will interfere with the Senate's oversight role over the county governments.

She states in her affidavit that former governors in the Senate will engage in massive cover-ups if questions are raised on expenditures of the counties during their tenure.

"It may paralyse the affairs of the said assemblies as they may end up being asked to do oversight on their expenditures which they were governors in their respective counties," states the petition.

The case was filed at the Mombasa High Court on February 8 by Chilango and Coast Legal Aids and Resource Foundation (CLARF).

Chilango added that most outgoing governors were confused since the Constitution is silent on where they will move to after their terms expire. 

“The law has a lacuna where we don’t know where the outgoing governors will be placed after their terms end and this petition is meant to seek the court’s interpretation on the matter,” she said. 

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is cited as the first respondent, the Speakers of the Senate and National Assembly as the second and third respondents, respectively. The Council of Governors is named the fourth respondent and the Attorney General is the fifth respondent.

The petitioners argue that there was a risk of abuse of the Constitution if former governors were allowed to seek Senate seats which may set a bad precedent.

"The intention of governors seeking the elective positions in the National Assembly and Senate flies over the principles that a party cannot be a judge and an investigator in their deeds," it states.

The petitioners state that if governors are not restrained from seeking these seats, the object of the oversight on the counties' expenditures by Parliament shall stand violated.

"..it will lead to massive cover-ups in the event that issues of questionable expenditures came up in the Senate and National Assembly to which they will end up being members," states the petition filed by lawyer Maurice Mkan on behalf of the two petitioners.