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Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko was on Wednesday 13th July cleared by the High Court to vie for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat in the coming general elections.
The courts directed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to gazzeted Sonko.
The court further said that t IEBC acted unreasonably to disqualify Sonko from the race.
“They violated the Constitution and rushed with the announcement,” the court ruled.
In the one-hour ruling, Justice Sewe, Ong’injo’, and Githinji said IEBC violated the rights of the petitioner.
“The County Returning Officer acted unreasonably and in a rush in her decision to disqualify the petitioner,” she ruled.
The three-judge bench ordered the (IEBC) to immediately accept Sonko’s nomination papers and make sure that he is gazetted ahead of the 9th August elections.
IEBC had already cleared and gazetted seven candidates; Abdulswamad Nassir (ODM), Hezron Awiti (VDP), Hassan Omar (UDA), William Kingi (PAA), Daniel Kitsao (Independent), Shafii Makazi (Upia), and Said Abdhalla (Usawa) for Mombasa governor race.
That ruling came a day after the former governor said that he was optimistic that the High Court would rule in his favor to allow him to run for the Mombasa gubernatorial position. “I will continue fighting in line with the law. I am not a person who gives up easily,” he said.
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