The High Court yesterday dismissed a petition seeking to bar United Democratic Alliance candidate Ahmed Malim Hassan from contesting the Banisa Constituency by-election over alleged dual citizenship.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi threw out the case, ruling it premature, speculative and filed through the wrong legal channel.
The petitioner, a local voter, had asked the court to block Hassan’s nomination, claiming he holds foreign citizenship and must renounce it before running.
Justice Mugambi said the matter belonged first to the IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee and could only reach the High Court through judicial review, not a direct constitutional petition.
“The petitioner cannot invoke the original constitutional jurisdiction of this court to challenge decisions already handled by the IEBC,” the judge ruled, citing Supreme Court precedents.
He warned that allowing electoral disputes to be repackaged as human rights violations would create a parallel system that undermines orderly resolution of election grievances.
On dual citizenship, the judge held that even if proven, the constitutional bar only applies to persons already elected as State officers, not candidates.
“Ahmed Hassan has only offered himself as a candidate. He is not yet a State officer. Why demand renunciation before the people have spoken?” Justice Mugambi asked.
Forcing renunciation at nomination stage, he added, would be premature and unfairly punish a citizen’s right to hold dual nationality when victory remains uncertain.
The court dismissed the petition with costs awarded to both the IEBC and Hassan.
The ruling removes the final legal obstacle for the UDA candidate ahead of the November 27 by-election in Mandera County.
Hassan will now face off against candidates from ODM, Jubilee and other parties in the contest triggered by the death of former MP Kullow Maalim Hassan early this year.
Voters in Banisa will go to the polls next Thursday.
