Petitioners disown integrity suit

An amended suit seeking to bar key presidential aspirants from the race for the big seat over their integrity has been disowned by six of the petitioners.

The first petition challenged the suitability of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and URP leader William Ruto to contest the presidency. (READ: Bid to bar Raila and Kalonzo from polls)

The suit was later amended to include Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.

On Tuesday, six of the eight petitioners distanced themselves from the amendment and asked the court to strike it out and only determine the original petition which challenged the suitability of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

ODM candidate for the Ndhiwa by-election Augustino Neto and Messrs Zechariah Momanyi, Maurice Mwariama, Abdulaziz Abubakar, the Kenya Youth Parliament and the Kenya Youth League claimed they were not consulted before the first petition was amended.

Through lawyer Anthony Oluoch, they submitted that the amended petition amounted to a serious misjoinder since their original petition was about the confirmed charges against Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto at the International Criminal Court.

“Our questions were framed to ascertain whether the candidature of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, who are facing criminal charges at the ICC, would breach the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution and perpetuate the culture of impunity in the country,” said Mr Oluoch.

Activists Patrick Njuguna and Charles Omanga amended the petition to include Mr Odinga, Mr Musyoka and Mr Mudavadi.

The two sought orders to stop the three from running for the presidency, claiming serious allegations of fraud, corruption, abuse of office, nepotism and land grabbing had been raised against them.

They wanted the PM summoned to clarify his graduate studies at a German university and accused him of involvement in the 2007/08 post-election violence and the attempted military coup of 1982.

Mr Musyoka is accused of using his office to acquire radio frequencies for a company owned by his wife while Mr Mudavadi is on the spot over grabbed land owned by the City Council of Nairobi at Woodley Estate.

Judges Mohammed Warsame, Isaac Lenaola and Philomena Mwilu will hear the application on September 27.