Milimani High Court Judge, Justice Mugure Thande has been asked to dismiss Omtatah’s petition challenging the IEBC selection panel.
Mr. Kingi and AG Muturi have informed the Judge that Omtatah is incompetent to launch the petition.
Mr. Kingi and Mr. Muturi, along with the selection panel of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), informed Justice Mugure Thande on Friday that the case lacked merit and should be dismissed.
The AG stated in his grounds for objection that the petition is incompetent and a misuse of the court process.
The court heard that Mr. Omtatah, as a senator, lacks the legal authority to file a public interest lawsuit in court against the legislature’s decision.
Mr. Omtatah’s petition seeks to declare the IEBC (Amendment) Act No1 of 2023 unconstitutional because senators disregarded a report of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, and Human Rights.
“The Standing Orders of the Senate are clear that once a report of a committee is tabled in the House, it must be subjected to a vote, where it is either adopted (with amendments if need be) or rejected. There is no mechanism for the withdrawal of a committee report,” he argues.
According to Mr. Omtatah, the import of the withdrawal of the report was that the Act was passed illegally and without public participation.
In his petition, he asked the High Court to invalidate the said Law and the selection panel declared null and void.
