Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho (centre) seated with his deputy, Hazel
Katana (second left), together with Coast region MPs during proceedings
at the High Court in Mombasa on October 16, 2014. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
A voter who had challenged the academic qualifications of
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho in court but lost the case has now filed a
notice of appeal.
Mr Silas Otuke filed the notice on
Friday afternoon and intends to appeal the decision of a three-judge
bench that struck off his petition on grounds that it was an abuse of
the court process.
“Take
notice that the petitioner herein being dissatisfied with the ruling of
the court delivered on October 16, 2014 intends to appeal to the Court
of Appeal against the whole of the decision,” the notice states.
Mr
Otuke filed the petition last year where he claimed that Mr Joho was
never a holder of a degree certificate from any recognized university
and therefore did qualify to be the Governor of any county in the
country.
He further alleged that Mr Joho and his
deputy, Ms Hazel Ogunde obtained their nomination from the electoral
body through fraudulent means.
In his supporting
affidavit, Mr Otuke, a former chairman of Kenya students Council in
Uganda, alleged that Mr Joho had never been a student of Kampala
University in 2011 thereby disputing his Business Administration degree
he had obtained from the institution.
IMMATURE PETITION
But
Justices Christine Meoli, Edward Muriithi and Martin Muya, who read the
judgment two weeks ago, declared the petition immature saying the
petitioner ought to have followed the correct procedure while filing the
case.
However, the judges noted, the petitioner can
still pursue the case through other means but not through a
constitutional petition such as the one he filed.
“The petitioner is entitled to approach the court subject to applicable requirements of the Constitution,” the judges said.
In
their judgment, the judges said that since the petition was alleging
acts of a criminal nature against the Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr Otuke ought to have sought redress from
other institutions such as the Criminal Investigations Departments or
Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
They
added that before the case could be heard, it was important for the
allegations brought against IEBC of aiding and abetting serious criminal
offences to be investigated.
IEBC was accused of
conspiring when it proceeded to issue a nomination certificate to the
Governor while there were allegations of fraud.
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