{"id":123802,"date":"2025-10-29T12:18:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/10\/29\/petition-filed-to-declare-governor-kahiga-unfit-to-hold-office-over-raila-remarks\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:18:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:18:02","slug":"petition-filed-to-declare-governor-kahiga-unfit-to-hold-office-over-raila-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/petition-filed-to-declare-governor-kahiga-unfit-to-hold-office-over-raila-remarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Petition Filed to declare Governor Kahiga unfit to hold office Over Raila Remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 29 \u2013 A group of petitioners has moved to court seeking the removal of Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga from office over allegations that he made ethnic and inflammatory remarks that threaten national unity and cohesion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The petition, filed by Bunge la Mwananchi, Lawrence Oyugi, Komeade Bush, and Nicholas Kimanzi, accuses the governor of gross misconduct and urges the court to suspend him from office pending the determination of the case.<\/p>\n

According to the petitioners, Governor Kahiga\u2019s continued presence in office \u201cprovides him with a platform through which he can repeat and amplify the impugned inflammatory and divisive utterances.\u201d They also want the court to bar him from making any further ethnic-based or inflammatory statements, arguing that his conduct violates the Constitution and could inflame ethnic tensions.<\/p>\n

The case arises from remarks allegedly made by the governor on October 17, 2024, during a public function in Nyeri County. Court documents claim that Governor Kahiga made comments in Kikuyu, later translated into English, which appeared to mock the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, commonly referred to as \u201cBaba.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the remarks, Kahiga allegedly implied that Raila\u2019s passing was a divine act in favor of his political side, saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll goodies were being directed there\u2026 but who is God, does he take Ugali at somebody\u2019s house or sleep in Kayole?\u201d<\/p>\n

The petitioners argue that the statement carried derogatory and ethnic undertones, suggesting that the reference to \u201cKayole\u201d was a coded insult aimed at the Luo community. They claim the remarks created an \u201cus versus them\u201d narrative, amounting to mockery, hate speech, and incitement against another ethnic group.<\/p>\n

The petition cites multiple constitutional violations, including Article 10 on national values and unity, Articles 73 and 75 on integrity and leadership standards, Article 27 on equality and non-discrimination, and Article 28 on human dignity.<\/p>\n

They contend that the governor\u2019s comments undermined his oath of office, promoted divisiveness, and violated the rule of law.<\/p>\n

The petitioners also drew parallels with Kenya\u2019s history of ethnic violence, warning that similar rhetoric by political leaders has previously fueled deadly clashes \u2014 notably the 1990s tribal conflicts and the 2007\/2008 Post-Election Violence, which left more than 1,000 people dead.<\/p>\n

They noted that Nakuru County, which Kahiga allegedly mentioned in his speech, was among the epicenters of past violence, saying the governor\u2019s words were akin to \u201cpouring petrol on smoldering embers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The petitioners are asking the court to suspend Governor Kahiga from performing his duties pending the case outcome, declare him unfit to hold public office for gross misconduct.<\/p>\n

They also want the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) compelled to investigate and take legal action against him.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 29 \u2013 A group of petitioners has moved to court seeking the removal of Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga from office over allegations that he made ethnic and inflammatory remarks that threaten national unity and cohesion. The petition, filed by Bunge la Mwananchi, Lawrence Oyugi, Komeade Bush, and Nicholas Kimanzi, accuses the governor […]<\/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-123802","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\/123802","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=123802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}