A Kakamega high court has temporarily blocked IEBC from gazetting the name of Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala as a gubernatorial aspirant until a case questioning the authenticity of his bachelor’s degree is heard and determined.
Justice Paul Otieno has however allowed Senator Malala a go-ahead to present his academic papers at the Kakamega IEBC offices to comply with the timelines scheduled to clear him on Tuesday.
“This case has been transferred from Nairobi to this court (Kakamega) and is urgent yet I understand the respondents were not served with the voter to get a chance to reply. I, therefore, order that they be served by today (Monday 06/06/2022) at 6 pm and the case he heard tomorrow (Tuesday),” said the judge.
Due to the strict IEBC timeline that wants all aspirants cleared by today Tuesday, Justice Paul Otieno ordered the IEBC to allow Malala to present his papers but not to gazette him until the pending case is determined.
Do not gazette Malala
“In the meantime, given the IEBC tight timeline, let Malala present his papers to the IEBC… but let him not be gazetted until this petition is determined.” The judge added.
Cleophas Malala, through his lawyer Charles Malala told the court that they had only learnt about the case via social media before presenting themselves.
The case against Malala was taken to court by Fred Muka, a voter, late last month.
Mr. Muka wants Malala bared from the Kakamega gubernatorial race arguing that he never graduated with a degree from United States International University Africa (USIU) and hence fails to meet the requirement of having a degree.
“While Malala alleges that he graduated from USIU in 2011, his degree certificate was printed and issued to him on August 10, 2019. This is eight years after the purported graduation yet ordinarily the date on a degree certificate is the day a person graduates from an institution,” read part of the papers submitted to the court.
Pending the hearing and ruling of the application, Mr. Muka wanted the court to issue orders barring IEBC from clearing and registering Malala as a gubernatorial candidate for the August 9 elections.
The case will be heard today (Tuesday).
