ANC wants political parties tribunal chairperson out of MP Osotsi case

The Amani National Congress (ANC) Party now wants the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal chair Kyalo Mbombu to recuse himself from hearing embattled MP Geoffrey Osotsi’s case.

“… Respectfully requests that the chair must recuse himself as a condition precedent to a fair hearing and determination of this preliminary objection and the application by Osotsi,” reads the application by ANC filed on Thursday.

According to the Musalia Mudavadi-led party, they are apprehensive that the tribunal, specifically the presiding bench; as currently constituted, will not deliver a fair and impartial determination of the matter before it in accordance with Articles 47 and 50 of the constitution.

“Best judicial and fair practice, professional etiquette and presence of a good mind would demand that faced with a similar legal issue of jurisdiction involving substantially the same parties and substantively similar issues that the chair recuses himself,” argues ANC.

ANC has further accused Osotsi of concealing from the tribunal the fact that he had filed a judicial review application in which he raised the same complaint and Justice John Mativo dismissed it insisting that the remedy of exhaustion had not been observed by the MP.

“The orders of the tribunal issued on May 17 to stay the decision of the party Disciplinary Committee are consequently untenable, fatally framed and incapable of enforcement as they were issued after the fact,” says the party

They argue that the orders issued by ANC are bad in law, untenable and incapable of any possibility if enforced.

ANC claims that the political parties disputes tribunal court has no powers to entertain a complaint which has not been exhausted through the stipulated internal disputes mechanisms of the party.