Petitioner Lenny Kivuti (left) shakes hands with the incumbent Embu Governor, Hon. Martin Wambora |
The outcome of the Embu County
gubernatorial election petition, whose ruling is expected on Wednesday 30
January, 2019 at the Supreme Court, will have more than political implications. For one, it has provided yet another supremacy battlefront for the two senior counsels;
Ahmednasir Abdullahi for Governor Martin Wambora and Prof. Tom Ojienda for former
senator Lenny Kivuti. As much as the two leaders have of late shown some high level of harmony and mutual respect, the ruling is expected to mark either the beginning of a peaceful reign for Governor Wambora or some kind of cold war between the politicians' supporters.
There
is More Than Meets the Eye in the Embu Gubernatorial Petition
Senior counsels Ahmednasir Abdullahi (with fingers crossed) and Prof. Tom Ojienda |
Though the two courtroom brawlers have much in common, their thinly veiled sense of competition is well known in both political and judicial circles. First, let us examine what they share in common:
First of all, both Mr Abdullahi and Prof Ojienda
run two of the
biggest law firms in Kenya. That is Ahmednasir, Abdikadir & Company Advocates and Prof. Tom Ojienda
& Associates Advocates, respectively. Secondly, they are known to love
taking on high profile cases, of which the aforementioned petition is no
exception. Thirdly, both graduated from the University of Nairobi’s Law school
and got admitted to the Roll of Advocates in the same year, 1993, after
completing their Kenya School of Law diplomas. Again, both are senior counsels
who have earned the title for their service to the legal fraternity, having
served as former chairmen of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
The two have a long history in Kenya’s legal
circles where Prof Ojienda has twice succeeded Mr Abdullahi, and this seems to
have gone a long way in cementing their contention. In 2014, the two clashed in
a vote by lawyers to elect their representative to the powerful Judicial
Service Commission (JSC) – the body that, among other duties, is charged with
recruiting judges and magistrates as well as disciplining them. It is this role
that Mr. Abdullahi seems not to have let go, even after his ouster, which in
turn poses possible danger to Governor Wambora’s defence.
Some of the Supreme Court of Kenya judges, headed by Chief Justice David Maraga (center) |
The man may have watered
down his chances of an unbiased outcome when in December 2018 he appeared
before the Supreme Court judges and made a scathing attack against them.
When asked by the judges, led by Chief Justice David Maraga to withdraw the
submissions they deemed ‘offensive’, he said, “I am not withdrawing. Let my submissions
go the way they are” (2018, December 16), Daily Nation. Now the question is: Would the Supreme Court Judges
use this petition to teach the Grand Mullah a lesson and show him that he is
not as smart as he thinks?
No comments:
Post a Comment