A petitioner namely FREDRICK BIKERI has sued the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Clerck of the National Assembly.
Bikeri through his lawyer Danstan Omari, is challenging the decision of Speaker Moses Wetangula allowing public participation forums at the county level for the impeachment motion for His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua, the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya.
He has filed a petition at the High Court pleading with the court to issue conservatory orders before making a determination whether public participation on removal of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua should be done at the county or ward level.
Bikeri argues that the process is inherently flawed and will defeat the purpose of public participation as it will be conducted at a county level.
According to Bikeri, the aim of inviting members of the public to participate in the hearings is to enhance democratic engagement of the citizens thus reaffirming their sovereignty that put DP Rigathi Gachagua into office have a say about his exit.
He further tells Court that having public hearings at a county level will not capture the true essence of Kenyans opinions and it will give a generalized summary.
He also argues that it will also leave many Kenyans out of the process since having only one hearing location in an entire county is inconvenient for most people who do not reside near it.
“THAT for such an important and monumental motion, the public participation process should be more thorough, and this can only be achieved if the process is done in each of the 1,450 electoral wards in Kenya which are the smallest administrative units.” says Bikeri.
Bikeri says that he is apprehensive that if the issue is not immediately addressed, the public participation process will be heavily compromised, leading to a miscarriage of justice for the Kenyan people during the Historical impeachment procedure of the Deputy president.
“Every Kenyan citizen has political rights which include the right to register as a voter and vote in a secret ballot election. In exercising these rights, the Kenyan people voted in our incumbent Deputy President and likewise each Kenyan has a right to express their opinions regarding his removal from office.” said Bikeri.
