Kuria asks court to quash IEBC proceedings against him

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has moved to court to challenge the summons issued to him by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over the vote-rigging remarks he made last month.

Kuria, through Ndegwa Wahome, Francis Munyororo and Geoffrey Omenke advocates, wants the summons quashed saying IEBC does not have jurisdiction on the matter.

In the summons, IEBC indicated that it had material evidence against him in regard to violation of the electoral code of conduct and that the words he uttered created an impression that the Jubilee Party, to which he belonged, rigged the 2017 election.

The MP claims  IEBC’s actions were illegal for want of an enabling anchor in the Constitution, statute, or subsidiary law, to conduct investigations and hearing.

“The Respondent has failed to prescribe regulations to enforce the electoral code of Conduct as per the provisions of section 109 (c) and (f) of the elections Act,” he says in court documents.

He argues that the electoral code of conduct only binds those who have subscribed to it during the material election period and he was yet to subscribe to it.

“This means the respondent (IEBC) has no authority to summon me,” he says in court documents.

Kuria claims that IEBC commenced the process not to preserve the sanctity of anything, but to protect itself from public scrutiny, arising from its refusal to comply with the Supreme Court orders five years later.

“The Conduct by the Respondents is unbecoming of public officers and in utter defiance of Chapter 6 of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity,” he says.