A court in Mombasa has directed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to clear former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko to vie for the Mombasa gubernatorial race.
The court also directed the IEBC to gazette Sonko, who is eying the Mombasa governor seat under the Wiper Democratic Movement.
In their one-hour judgment, Justices Sewe, Ong’injo’, and Githinji ruled that IEBC violated the constitution and acted unreasonably by disqualifying Sonko from the race. “The County Returning Officer acted unreasonably and in a rush in her decision to disqualify the petitioner,” Sewe said.
The ruling will see the number of Mombasa gubernatorial candidates rise from 7 to 8. The polls body has gazetted seven candidates; Abdulswamad Nassir (ODM), Hezron Awiti (VDP), Hassan Omar (UDA), William Kingi (PAA), Daniel Kitsao (Independent), Shafii Makazi (Upia), and Said Abdhalla (Usawa) for Mombasa governor race.
