A group of 12 activists have filed a petition seeking the court’s order to compel the Registrar of Political Parties to deregister the Deputy President William Ruto-led United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party for nominating Rigathi Gachagua regardless of his tainted integrity.
According to the activists, the UDA party violated the constitution by ignoring the obvious matter of integrity and values of its leaders.
“In the result, the petitioners beseech the court to find that UDA has violated the constitution and proceed to order the register of political parties to commence the process of its deregistration as a political party,” the petition read.
Through their lawyer Kibe Mungai, the petitioners argued DP Ruto erred in picking Gachagua to be his running mate despite his background, which is tainted with a criminal record.
The 12 voters want Chief Justice Martha Koome to ensure the matter is heard and determined by Monday.
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They wish to have a five-judge bench comprising Justice Anthony Mrima, Justice Chacha Mwita, Justice Eunice Ng’etich, Justice David Majanja and Justice Mugure Thande to determine their case.
The 12 voters also wanted other aspirants from across the political party divides to be barred from contesting in the Tuesday general election.
In their list of aspirants, who wanted to be knocked out of the Tuesday election is Rigathi Gachagua, Johnson Sakaja, Anne Waiguru, Evans Kidero, Samual Arama, John Walukhe, Muthomi Njuki, Aisha Jumwa, Ali Korene, Oscar Sudi, Jonah Mburu Mwangi, Godhana Dhadho and Mohammed Ali.
They also claimed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (IEBC) did not vet Gachagua to determine if he was fit to be the country’s deputy president.
The petitioners also accused the electoral body of failing to prevent the candidature of unfit politicians from contesting in the Tuesday polls despite warning from the Interior CS Fred Matiang’i that the country is on the verge of falling under the control of rogues and criminals.
"We believe that it is possible to ensure that the outcome of the general elections will not be the establishment of the government headed by an aristocracy of free felons," the petition reads.
The petition comes only a few days before the monumental election in the history of Kenya.