Any governor charged with a criminal case should step aside, the High Court has ruled.
Judge Mumbi Ngugi ruling further stated that governors facing corruption and economic crimes, just like other state officers, should step aside and hand in all their functions to their deputies during the entire trial period.
The ruling is a win for the anti-graft agencies, which have renewed the fight against corruption with the arrest and prosecution of CS Henry Rotich and PS Kamau Thugge.
DPP Noordin Haji has in the past called for the susopension of prosecuted offocials.
“My concern is that most of the still remain in office and worse off is that we have orders allowing them to continue enjoying office perks,” he told Citizen TV in a past interview.
Previously, charged governors used political influence to stall cases and drag them for long, thus avoiding and preventing possible conviction.
Like other civil servants, Justice Ngugi said governors should step aside once charged for a criminal offence and declared a section of the law protecting them unconstitutional.
Justice Mumbi Ngugi qualified Section 62(6) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act which state officers have been using to hang onto office as “entrenching corruption and impunity in the land”.
Governors Moses Lenolkulal (Samburu) and Sospeter Ojaamong are among county bosses who have been charged with corruption.
Â
