Civil rights lobby group —Human Rights Africa—has petitioned the High Court to nullify the possible candidature of Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga for the presidential race.
The NGO wants the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) compelled to declare Raila unfit to run for any public office over alleged “personal integrity, financial probity and gross impropriety on public coffers” issues.
It also says the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission(EACC), the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) and the Commission for University Education should not clear Raila to run for the country’s top seat in the August 8 General Election.
The lobby through its advocate Robert Onyango wants the High Court to find that Raila does not meet the leadership and integrity requirements set out in Chapter 6 of the Constitution on account of the corruption scandals he has either been linked to or involved in.
He cites the Dominion Farms saga, Molasses, Triton and maize as some of the scandals Raila has been adversely been linked to.
“The 1st respondent in particular, has never been publicly cleared of wrongdoings or involvement in the said scandals. Therefore, substantive questions of the 1st respondent’s integrity, both of his person and character on his suitability to vie for public or state office remain unanswered,” the petition reads.
The NGO also seeks an order to compel Raila to produce his university certificate arguing that the Opposition leader has never publicly presented documentation to prove he holds a Masters of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.
The HRA, which had first petitioned the IEBC to investigate Raila , now wants it compelled to do so, adding that other state agencies including the EACC and DPP should also probe and prosecute the Opposition supremo over the allegations.
The lobby also wants the CUE to verify Raila’s academic qualifications. “The 1st respondent has always claimed publicly that he attended university between the years of 1965-1970 to study a Master of Sciences in Mechanical Engineering. So far, he has only produced a certificate acquired in the years of 1962-1965, Certificate of Higher Education from Herder Institute, Leipzig, German Democratic Republic, with competence in German Language,” says the petition.
