Court dismisses ex-Speaker Elachis application challenging halted Sonkos impeachment

The High Court Labour Division has struck out an application by ex-Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi that had challenged a court order that stopped Governor Mike Sonko’s impeachment in early March.

Governor Sonko’s impeachment was temporarily halted in March after his defense team argued that the due process had not been followed.

Sonko’s defense team led by Harrison Kinyanjui told the court that the motion was not approved by a duly recognized County Assembly Clerk.

On Friday, Justice Byram Ongaya delivered a ruling on the matter, directing Elachi to bear the cost of the application.

“The interim orders herein given on March 2, 2020, as extended until further orders by the court or until the next mention date, the second respondent to pay the petitioner’s costs of the preliminary objection,” the ruling reads.

While challenging the court decision in March, Elachi criticized the reasons given by the court saying that an assembly is an independent institution whose mandate should not be interfered with.