The Supreme Court has struck out a petition seeking to stop the swearing-in of President William Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
Eleven activists had moved to the apex court before the elections to dispute the integrity of the outgoing Mathira MP.
Rigathi has an active corruption and money-laundering case in court while some of his monies amounting to Sh200 million are being held by the State.
The 11 petitioners, through lawyer Kibe Mungai, also claimed Ruto and Rigathi do not pass the integrity test as enshrined in Chapter Six of the Constitution.
“Given the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution, swearing in of the 1st and 2nd Respondents to office will constitute a flagrant violation of Articles 3, 4 and 10 of the Constitution,” reads the petition.
“Unless and until this Honourable Court has determined the constitutionality of the registration and gazettement of the 1st and 2nd Respondents as candidates, it would amount to aiding and abetting illegalities if the Respondents are sworn into office in the event that they get elected.”
They also wanted the court to declare the nomination of Gachagua as an invalid running mate.
But the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition terming it incompetent. It also said it lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine the case.
“The notice of motion and petition dated August 5 is for the reasons given, incompetent and are hereby struck out,” the court said.
Further, the Supreme Court said the petition was filed way before the declaration of the presidential results and therefore the court cannot handle the matter.
“We reiterate that this court’s jurisdiction under article 163(3)(a) of the Constitution only kicks in after the declaration of the presidential election results and subsequent to a competent petition challenging the elections,” the court ruled.
The 11 activists were ordered to bear the costs of the petition to Ruto, Gachagua, UDA Chebukati, IEBC and the AG, who they had sued.
