The Meru deputy governor nominee Lindah Kiome will have to wait longer for her approval vetting after the high court in Meru set May 8, 2025 for mention of a petition against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Ms Kiome, whose name was forwarded to the county assembly by Governor Isaac Mutuma on April 1, moved to court last week to seek judicial guidance since the IEBC is not constituted to allow for her clearance.
A nominee for the deputy governor position must be cleared by the IEBC through a county returning officer gazetted by the IEBC Chairperson – a position that is vacant.
In the orders seen by Voice Daily, Justice Stephen Githinji issued conservatory orders on the implementation of section 32 D of the County Government act.
The section provides that a governor must nominate the deputy within 14 days of the occurrence of vacancy.
Once the nominee has been forwarded to the county assembly, vetting and a report must be done within 14 days, failure to which the nominee is deemed approved.
Justice Githinji also issued orders requiring the status quo to be maintained.
The Judge indicated that the judgement date will be given on May 8.
The vetting of Ms Kiome was set for Monday, April 7 but was postponed after IEBC failed to clear her.
Earlier, Ms Kiome said the IEBC staff had advised her to seek judicial assistance.
“I went to the IEBC and they informed me that I could not get the clearance certificate. I went to court for directions and the matter has been set for determination on Tuesday,” Ms Kiome said.
She said while there exists jurisprudence in the case of the current Kisii Deputy governor, the court decided that every matter must be heard on its own merit.
Following the impeachment of former Kisii deputy governor Robert Monda last year, Governor Simba Arati nominated Elijah Obebo but he could not be sworn in until the high court ordered IEBC to gazette a returning officer to clear the nominee.
The returning officer is tasked with receiving nomination papers to verify whether the nominee meets the required threshold and issue a nomination certificate.
Before moving to court, IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan had indicated that he could not gazette a returning officer for Kisii county as it was the mandate of the Commission chairperson.
He advised that the county invokes a Judicial intervention and obtain a court order requiring the Commission secretary to play the role of IEBC Chairperson.
