This archive report was first published on 6 December 2019.
On December 6, 2019, Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki weighed in on a contentious issue in Kenya's county governments, ruling that deputy governors cannot declare themselves acting governors when their substantive counterparts are barred from office.
The ruling came in response to declarations by Kiambu Deputy Governor James Nyoro and Samburu Deputy Governor Julius Leseeto, who assumed the roles of acting governors after their bosses, Ferdinand Waititu and Moses Lenolkulal, were arraigned on corruption charges and barred from office.
According to Prof Kindiki, the order by Justice Mumbi Ngugi, barring state officers charged with corruption from stepping into office, does not create a vacancy or constitute an absence that would trigger Article 179(5) of the Constitution.
He emphasized that a governor who cannot access their office due to a court order has the liberty and discretion to appoint the deputy to act as the substantive governor, but such an appointment cannot be forced on the deputy.
Prof Kindiki also pointed out that a governor need not be at the physical location of the county office to perform the functions or exercise the powers of the office of the governor.
He warned that assumption of office by deputy governors without a legitimate appointment would run afoul of the constitutional principle of presumption of innocence and would be unconstitutional, illegal, null, and void.
