The Supreme Court has denied former Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko’s request to reopen his impeachment case and present new evidence.
Mr Sonko requested that the court allow him to present additional evidence in the form of videos and audio recordings relating to alleged malpractices by Judge Juma Chitembwe, who presided over his case at the High Court.
He also wanted to present audio and video recordings of Chief Justice Martha Koome during an interview on Spice FM, during which she allegedly made comments about his pending Supreme Court appeal.
He claimed that the CJ expressed her thoughts on the impeachment that was directly related to him. Furthermore, Mr. Sonko requested that the Supreme Court review and overturn its July 15, 2022 decision, in which the judges upheld his impeachment from the office of Nairobi governor.
However, the court denied his request because he did not meet the Supreme Court Rules, 2020, threshold for introducing additional evidence.
“Mr Sonko has not explained the relevance of the so-called new evidence considering that what was before the court was his removal from office, whose evidence was quite different from the conduct of Justice Chitembwe,” said the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court.
The judges, led by CJ Koome, went on to say that Mr Sonko’s petition before the High Court was heard by a bench of three judges, and that the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision.
The court also stated that Mr Sonko was fully aware of the material he intended to introduce post-judgment in the suit.
At the time he lodged the appeal in the Court of Appeal and even in this court, he was well aware of the gazette notice of May 18, 2022 in which a tribunal was appointed to investigate the conduct of Justice Chitembwe,” the court said.
The court stated that the material sought to be introduced, videos and audio recordings concerning alleged malpractices by Justice Chitembwe, are the subject of the tribunal’s investigations.
Furthermore, they stated that the veracity of audio and video recordings of the CJ’s interview was determined in the court’s ruling on July 14, 2022.
The judges stated that his request for review or setting aside of the court’s judgment was the subject of a separate ruling to his application over the same.
On his request for a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of the Justice Chitembwe tribunal, the Supreme Court informed Mr Sonko that it had delivered its judgment deciding his appeal contesting his removal as governor with finality.
“There are no proceedings capable of being stayed that are pending before the court,” the court said in the ruling rendered by the CJ, her deputy Philomena Mwilu and justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko.
The Clerk of the Nairobi County Assembly had opposed Mr Sonko’s bid, claiming that the evidence he sought to present was irrelevant and had nothing to do with his removal from office. As a result, even if admitted, their introduction would have no effect on the court’s decision.
It was stated that the issues raised in the application were before the tribunal and were awaiting resolution.
Mr Sonko explained that he had planned to present the application prior to the hearing of the appeal in the Supreme Court, but was unable to do so due to the confusion created by the court’s registry and the tight timelines.
The court upheld his July 15, 2022 impeachment, finding that he was properly removed from office because the impeachment proceedings before the county assembly and the Senate were properly conducted.
“We come to the irresistible conclusion that the impeachment of the appellant was in compliance with the Constitution and the law. We therefore find no merit in the Petition of Appeal. It bears mentioning in conclusion that Chapter Six of the Constitution was not enacted in vain or for cosmetic reasons,” said the Supreme Court.
