High Court dismisses Waititu challenge on public office ban
The Kenyan High Court has dismissed a petition by former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu challenging the law that bans individuals convicted of corruption from holding public office for 10 years. The court ruled that the petitioners failed to prove the law was unconstitutional.
Why it matters
This ruling reinforces anti-corruption legal frameworks in Kenya, setting a precedent for the disqualification of public officials convicted of economic crimes.
Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu in court/ LEAH MUKANGAI The High Court has dismissed a petition by former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu challenging the constitutionality of a law that bars people convicted of corruption or economic crimes from holding public office for 10 years.
In the petition, Waititu and other petitioners challenged Section 64 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
The provision, enacted to enforce Chapter Six of the Constitution, disqualifies a person convicted of corruption or an economic crime from being elected or appointed to public office for 10 years after conviction.
However, in a judgment delivered on Friday by Justice Roselyne Aburili on behalf of Justice Chacha Mwita, who has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal, the court found that the petitioners had failed to demonstrate why the provision should be declared unconstitutional.
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