Supreme Court upholds Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi's election

It was the first case that was filed at the Supreme Court as the contest for the 2017 general election results moved to the apex court.

But the Wajir gubernatorial election was the last one to be delivered. The culmination of the long wait, however, comes as sweet news for incumbent Mohamed Abdi Mohamud after the court, in a majority decision, affirmed his August 8, 2017 win.

Mr Mohamud had lost before the High Court and Court of Appeal with the two courts ruling that he was not qualified to contest the seat because he does not possess a degree certificate as required by law.

'BRIBED'

However, no sooner had the ruling been read than controversial lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi, who represented the former governor in the petition, cried foul accusing certain Supreme Court judges of being compromised to rule in the incumbent’s favour. He threatened to write a confidential letter to the Chief Justice David Maraga on Monday exposing them.

“On Monday I will write a confidential letter to the CJ and disclose to him which judges were bribed and how much money they got and from whom … one of the judges was bribed through a Member of Parliament and the money taken from the branch to a local bank in Eastleigh,” he wrote.

During the ruling, justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Prof J.B. Ojwang’, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u, faulted the High Court and the appellate court for assuming a jurisdiction they do not have.

The judges said the degree issue was a pre-election matter and should have been addressed by a dispute committee at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission or by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal.

They noted that a voter, Mr Mohamed Abdile, had filed a complaint with the IEBC saying that Mr Mohamud did not have a degree. The man, however, did not pursue the case, forcing IEBC to dismiss it. The judges said Mr Mohamud’s rivals — Ahmed Abdullahi and Ahmed Muhumed Abdi — were aware of this fact but kept mum about it until they lost the election.

JURISDICTION

It was the judges’ view that the High Court had no jurisdiction to handle the matter, unless it was filed under a judicial review. They also said the appellate court erred in delving into the issue and overturned their decision to nullify Mr Mohamud’s win. The court had allowed the second appeal to give a chance to the governor to table additional evidence that he holds a degree. But in dissenting opinion, Chief Justice David Maraga and Justice Isaac Lenaola said they would have dismissed the case for lack of merit.

Justice Maraga said the High Court has jurisdiction to hear the dispute and Justice Alfred Mabeya was right in holding that Mr Mohamud does not have a degree and was not eligible to contest the gubernatorial seat.

The CJ said Mr Mohamud had told a parliamentary committee, when he was being vetted to become Kenya’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, that he was yet to graduate. But a few months later, he claimed that he had obtained a master’s degree in business administration from Kampala University.

He said if he had a degree then as alleged, the best thing would have to present it before the committee than risk being denied a chance of being an ambassador for lacking the document.

Mr Mohamud defeated his closest rival, Mr Abdullahi, while Mr Muhumed (Party of Development and Reforms) emerged third in what was seen as the most competitive contest in the county's history.

The Supreme Court dismissed the allegations against it as inaccurate.