Lawyer Kiprono Matagei has moved to court
to get an order compelling Chief Justice Willy Mutunga to swear in
William Ruto as President for the remaining three years of the Jubilee
coalition's term.
Mr Matagei, in his court papers, argues that Uhuru
Kenyatta's surrender of the instruments of power and the presidential
motorcade is construed as resignation within the meaning of Article 146
(1) (b).
The Article states: "The office of President shall
become vacant if the holder of the office — resigns, in writing,
addressed to the Speaker of the National Assembly."
Mr Matagei filed the application at the High Court in Nairobi.
“The President’s acts and omissions of openly surrendering instruments of power to the deputy president and his written speech addressed to the two houses should be construed as having resigned,” he said in the application.
“The President’s acts and omissions of openly surrendering instruments of power to the deputy president and his written speech addressed to the two houses should be construed as having resigned,” he said in the application.
“Since the Speaker of the National Assembly was
present, and because the message he read was in writing, then it beats
the substratum test of resignation as enshrined by article 146(1)(c) of
the constitution.”
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday surrendered
power to Deputy President William Ruto to allow him to attend court on
Wednesday at The Hague.
He said he was temporarily surrendering power
because of his determination to end his case at The Hague without
dragging the “sovereignty of Kenya (or) 40 million Kenyans” with him in
the crimes against humanity charges, which stemmed from the 2007/8
post-election violence.
“To protect the sovereignty of the Republic of
Kenya, I will shortly sign a legal notice appointing Hon William Ruto as
acting President while I attend the status conference,” he told a
special sitting of Parliament. (DAILY MONITOR)
No comments:
Post a Comment