Malala faces a legal hurdle as he prepares for date with IEBC
Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala (centre) who is gunning for governor seat.
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala is facing a legal hurdle as he prepares to present himself before the electoral agency tomorrow to be cleared to contest the governorship.
Two separate petitions were filed at the High Court in Nairobi on Friday last week seeking orders to stop the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from accepting Mr Malala’s nomination papers on the grounds that he does not have the academic qualifications to run for the seat.
But the petitioners, Mr Fred Muka and Mr Frankline Shilingi Anguche, were directed to forward the files to the High Court in Kakamega for further directions.
Lawyer Charles Malala, for Senator Malala, said there had been a delay in delivering the files to the court for processing before the matter could be heard.
The files were delivered at 3pm on Monday and the matter was scheduled to be heard from 4pm.
“We are ready to look into the issues raised in the petition and address them to enable our client (Senator Malala) to be cleared by the IEBC and proceed with the campaigns. We have not been served but we are set for the legal battle ahead,” the lawyer said.
An official at the Kakamega High Court said the files had not been received.
Academic qualifications
In the court papers seen by the Nation, Mr Anguche raised the issue of Senator Malala’s academic qualifications, claiming they were not authentic.
He wants the court to compel the senator to shed light on whether his academic certificates are genuine.
“The first respondent is scheduled to present his papers before the 3rd respondent (IEBC) on 7th June 2022 for purposes of being cleared to vie for the seat of governor of Kakamega, a date that is fast approaching,” Senator Malala’s lawyer said in the court documents.
“It is imperative that this honourable court stops the acceptance of the first respondent’s fraudulent papers and compel the second respondent (United States International University-Africa) to confirm the authenticity of the degree certificate that the first respondent alleges to have earned at their institution.”
In the second petition, Mr Muka said: “That by dint of section 22 (2) of the Elections Act No. 24 of 2011, for a person to be validly nominated and thereafter cleared by the IEBC to vie for the position of governor, he or she must inter alia be a holder of a degree certificate from an institution duly recognised in Kenya.”
He claimed that there were glaring inconsistencies and irregularities in the degree certificates awarded to Mr Malala.
