ODM leader Raila Odinga has asked the court to dismiss a petition seeking to have him barred from vying for the presidency in the August 9th elections.
Odinga, who is the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition presidential flagbearer, argues that the petition filed by Thirdway Alliance Kenya party leader Ekuru Aukot is premature as it is based on mere suspicion.
“The petition is defective both in form and in substance and is therefore unmerited and brought in bad faith,” Odinga says in court papers.
In the petition, Aukot wants Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Musalia Mudavadi barred from contesting in the upcoming elections on grounds that they are public officers, hence unqualified to vie for the presidency.
He argues that the three are beneficiaries of the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Act enacted by Parliament in 2015.
But in a preliminary objection, Odinga termed the case as “a waste of precious judicial time”, adding that the petition is incurably defective since the petitioner has not pleaded or adduced any evidence in support of the allegations on the payment of any monies to the respondents.
“A retired public officer is not a public officer. The Public Service Commission, therefore, has no jurisdiction over the entitled persons,” argues Odinga.
Aukot wants the court to order IEBC not to clear Odinga, Kalonzo, and Mudavadi to vie for the presidency or the position of deputy president.
He argues that should IEBC clear the three, it will be rubber-stamping the unlawful conflict of interest that the three embody by being active politicians yet enjoying perks reserved for retired public servants.
