This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On Wednesday, Justice James Makau set aside a consent order that would have forced Nairobi County Assembly speaker Beatrice Elachi to vacate her office until a case seeking her removal is heard and determined.
Elachi had moved to court, claiming she did not appoint the advocates who represented her in the suit where she was purported to have agreed to exit office pending the hearing of the impeachment petition.
She alleged that her constitutional rights to move freely within the country have been curtailed by the consent order obtained on her behalf “without her knowledge”.
According to court documents, Elachi denied knowledge of the lawyers who represented her in the said suit, stating that she has never appointed, instructed or interacted with the said advocates.
“No meeting as between [Elachi] or communication of whatever kind has been passed between her and the said advocates permitting such purported representation of her by the law firm,” her lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui said in the suit.
Justice Makau's ruling means Elachi will not have to vacate her office, at least for now.
