{"id":100865,"date":"2024-10-31T15:03:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T15:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/31\/court-disallows-gachaguas-secondary-request-to-stop-kindikis-swearing\/"},"modified":"2024-10-31T15:03:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T15:03:01","slug":"court-disallows-gachaguas-secondary-request-to-stop-kindikis-swearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/court-disallows-gachaguas-secondary-request-to-stop-kindikis-swearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Court disallows Gachagua\u2019s secondary request to stop Kindiki\u2019s swearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 31<\/strong> \u2013 The High Court has disallowed Rigathi Gachagua\u2019s application for a temporarily stay <\/em>to its order lifting conservatory orders that had blocked the swearing-in of his successor, Kithure Kindiki.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The oral application followed a Thursday ruling by a three-judge bench\u2014Justices Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima, and Dr. Freda Mugambi\u2014who stated that a prolonged vacancy in the Office of the Deputy President could undermine constitutional provisions and harm public interest.<\/p>\n

The bench declined to review its judgement asking applicants to file an appeal.<\/p>\n

Gachagua\u2019s legal team had argued for maintainance of the conservatory orders, suggesting that swearing in Kindiki without a further review could undermine due process.<\/p>\n

Advocate Ndegwa Njiru contended that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had not cleared Kindiki, raising questions about his eligibility. <\/p>\n

He warned that an unverified appointment could compromise legal procedures and public accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Kithure Kindiki is to be sworn in tomorrow, what will be the impact of swearing in someone who has not been verified and approved by the proper organ?\u201d Njiru posed to the bench.<\/p>\n

Senate Counsel lawyer Tom Ojienda countered, asserting that the matter was \u201cres judicata\u201d and the court, having ruled on the conservatory orders, was now functus officio, thus lacking the power to revisit the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrdinarily, when a court delivers a ruling on a matter, it becomes functus officio regarding that particular matter,\u201d Ojienda argued. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe applications are therefore res judicata in that a determination has been made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifted order <\/h2>\n

Lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu echoed Ojienda\u2019s views, criticizing any attempts to overturn prior decisions, suggesting such actions risked turning the judiciary into a \u201cpendulum,\u201d susceptible to inconsistent rulings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re being asked to do is to flip-flop\u2026 A pendulum moves from one end to another but never leaves the extreme ends,\u201d he stated, warning that such a path could erode judicial stability and public confidence.<\/p>\n

The Kerugoya Court initially issued the conservatory order two weeks ago after President William Ruto nominated InteriorKindiki to replace Gachagua, following his impeachment.<\/p>\n

In their judgment, the bench deemed the conservatory orders unsustainable, stressing that a prolonged vacancy would contravene constitutional principles, as the Deputy President\u2019s office must be filled promptly under Kenya\u2019s post-2010 constitutional framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe applications for conservatory orders are hereby disallowed. The conservatory orders issued on October 18, 2024, in Kerugoya High Court are hereby discharged,\u201d the bench rendered.<\/p>\n

The bench clarified that extending the conservatory orders would leave the office vacant without reinstating Rigathi Gachagua as Deputy President.<\/p>\n

The Justice Ogola-led bench emphasized that, under Kenya\u2019s post-2010 Constitution, no other official\u2014including the President or the Speaker of the National Assembly\u2014can perform the functions of the Deputy President, hence their finding that a prolonged vacancy would be untenable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are convinced that the current constitutional framework does not envision any scenario in which the office of the DP would remain vacant except during the brief period required to fill a vacancy,\u201d the bench ruled.<\/p>\n

The bench added that continued conservatory orders would effectively suspend constitutional provisions for the Deputy President\u2019s exclusive functions, which itself would violate the Constitution.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 31 \u2013 The High Court has disallowed Rigathi Gachagua\u2019s application for a temporarily stay to its order lifting conservatory orders that had blocked the swearing-in of his successor, Kithure Kindiki. The oral application followed a Thursday ruling by a three-judge bench\u2014Justices Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima, and Dr. Freda Mugambi\u2014who stated that a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}