The Kenya National Civil Society Centre (KNCSC) has welcomed the supreme court decision upholding the impeachment of former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko.

KNCSC, in a statement, said the apex court acted in accordance with the goals and objectives of the 2010 constitution and upheld the spirit of chapter six of the constitution which set high standards for those seeking public office.

The ruling came days after Sonko was cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to run for Mombasa governor’s seat in the upcoming 09 August general election.

The apex court’s verdict means the electoral umpire will have to recall its decision to clear him for the Mombasa gubernatorial poll based on provisions of the constitution which bars a person impeached from a public office from ever holding any other state office.

Sonko, who was elected as governor of the Nairobi City County during the 2017 general election for a term of five years, served as governor until 2020 when he was impeached.

Passing the resolution to remove him from office, the senate found him guilty of plundering public resources, persistently intimidating and molesting officers of the County Executive Committee and unlawfully mismanaging public funds.

‘Like the high court and the court of appeal before it, the decision of the supreme court is consistent with the purposes and objects of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, more so with the letter and spirit of Chapter Six and Article 10 that set high standards and threshold of responsibilities on those seeking positions of leadership through elections or appointments’, KNCSC Executive Director, Suba Churchill, said in the statement.

‘Many such tainted candidates, including those already convicted of serious sleaze, straddle the entire spectrum of the political divide as the country moves closer to the August 9, 2022 general elections. Those running as independents are not free of the vice either.

‘KNCSC thereby urges Kenyans to reject candidates with a tainted graft and criminal records as this is the only way to remove leaders who will continue to abuse their power in the next government’.

However, Sonko has challenged the supreme court verdict in the East African Court of Justice.

Photo source: Mike Sonko