Governor candidates don't need a degree to contest, just as MCAs

Justice Antony Mrima exempted a Member of County Assembly from requiring a university degree to vie. Subsequently, all MCA candidates were cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) without a university degree. 

Article 180(2) provides “to be eligible for election as county governor, a person must be eligible for election as a member of the county assembly.” This means if MCA candidates were cleared to vie without a degree, governorship candidates should also be cleared without a degree because their qualification to vie is the same as that of one vying as an MCA.

Any other argument will not hold water against the supremacy of the Constitution if it is inconsistent with it and is therefore null and void. 

If the drafters of the Constitution wanted governor candidates to possess additional educational qualifications beyond those of an MCA, they would have included them in article 180. The decision of Mrima J did not change article 180 of the Constitution.

Electoral contestants have to operate within the law; including adhering to the electoral code of conduct.

Respect for democracy and the rule of law demand of electoral contestants to compete on the basis of their electoral agenda, manifestos and political acumen. If politicians misuse the law to bar their opponents, where is no fun in that?!

Other players in elections must also operate within the law and respect the Constitution. Inconsistency and selective application of the law will lead us down a slippery slope. Everyone must be level-headed and less emotional, no matter their position or circumstance. The Judiciary is no exception. No one is licensed to play around with our democracy and the rule of law.

Also, there is no law that says the decisions of the Senate are final. Therefore, anyone can appeal against a decision of Senate. If anyone appeals against a decision of the Senate the status quo before that decision was made, obtains until a final decision is made on appeal.

While this doesn’t stop other decisions taken in the meantime to ensure institutional operations continue; it does NOT make the appellant guilty.

If the Constitution/law intended to make the decision of Senate to impeach, final, then it would be in the Constitution/law.

The National Assembly, itself, has said it is not a court of law, so, neither is Senate. Furthermore, our constitutional right of appeal is firmly safeguarded in law.

This is why we have different levels of courts. The higher you go in the process of appealing, the more judges will sit in judgement on your appeal. This is because even judges make mistakes or misinterpret or misapply the law, for whatever reasons.

Everyone has a right to be presumed innocent at all levels of their appeal until they are convicted by the highest appellate body of their choosing. No one, including public/state officers, media or the general public can be the judge, the jury and the hangman. Lady justice is blind and she must remain blind to ensure the rule of law.

This is why the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Court granted bail pending appeal to MP John Waluke, who went back to work in Parliament in 2020 from jail and has now been successfully cleared by IEBC to defend his seat, while awaiting his appeal against corruption charges. IEBC cannot bar anyone with a pending appeal from vying for election.

Finally, we need to address the insidious culture of electoral malpractices including vote-buying, corruption, intimidation, hate speech and violence and the misapplication of “cancel culture” without verifying the truthfulness of allegations and information.

We must not be too quick to judge and spread fake news; this is harmful. Just because one can blog, post or comment in the media on anything; doesn’t make them right or even an expert.

The media has great responsibility to fact-check information for truth and use various sources of information and analysts. We must trust but verify. We all must ensure what we share is fact-checked for truth and must avoid intimidation, hate speech, corruption and violence.