Game on as Sonko is cleared to vie for Mombasa governor

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has officially cleared Mike Sonko to vie for Mombasa governor.

Mr Sonko and his running mate Ali Mbogo received a certificate from Returning Officer Swalha Ibrahim on Thursday July 14 afternoon.

The commission had earlier in the day asked Mr Sonko to submit his papers today between 2pm and 4pm.

On Wednesday, a three-judge bench quashed the IEBC’s decision to disqualify the former Nairobi governor from vying for Mombasa governor.

The judges also ruled that Mr Sonko was eligible under the Constitution to vie.

The court noted that because Mr Sonko has a pending appeal at the Supreme Court (regarding his impeachment) the IEBC’s decision to reject his papers contravened the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the IEBC has said it could not appeal the court decision with only 25 days left before the August 9 elections.

“We shall implement the judgment. If there are any issues on the impeachment, they will be cleared along the way,” said IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati. 

“We are also late in making changes to the ballot papers. In most of the (court) cases we are in, we do not have time to take any other action. As IEBC we want to finalise the process to give Kenyans credible elections on August 9.”

He spoke in an interview on Wednesday with Kenyan TV stations.

But Mr Chebukati’s sentiments seemed to clash with those of IEBC chief executive Marjan Hussein Marjan, who said that the impeachment case against Mr Sonko was ongoing at the Supreme Court and hence the need to wait for a determination. 

Mr Marjan also said that it was important to wait and find out what happens at the Supreme Court. A decision would then be made on whether to appeal, he added.

“As a commission we have not made a decision on whether to appeal or not, but to us what is important is to wait for the Supreme Court to pronounce itself,” said Mr Marjan in the same interview.