The High Court has dealt a staggering blow to governors facing graft charges in a landmark ruling that will make corruption an expensive affair in the coming days.
In a sweet victory to the anti-graft agencies, the court ruled that governors charged with corruption should stay away from office and their roles completely taken over by their deputies for the duration of the trial.
Like other civil servants, Justice Mumbi Ngugi ruled, governors should step aside once charged for a criminal offence and declared section of the law protecting them unconstitutional.
She termed Section 62(6) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act which state officers have been using to hang onto office as “entrenching corruption and impunity in the land”.
“It seems to me that Section 62(6) apart from obfuscating…are contrary to the constitutional requirements of integrity in governance, are against the national values and principals of governance and principles of leadership and integrity in Chapter Six,”Ngungi ruled.
Criminal trials take years to conclude.
This means, a governor suspended from office can easily spend his or her entire tenure in the cold, waiting for conclusion of the case.
The verdict is a shocker for county chiefs, coming at a time when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is hunting down several governors with some already in court…
Wueh, hapa deputies ni ku ensure kesi isiishe, pesa iko karibu kuongezeka Kwa watu wako Kwa hiyo ecosystem. Unalipwa hapa kukimbiza kesi, mwingine anakulipa ucheze delay tactics, mwingine analipa prosecutors evidence ipotele, mwingine analipa evidence itoklezee