The High Court has nullified sections of the Elections Act and County Governments Act that had made it difficult for the voters remove from office a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of County Assembly (MCA) who has failed to perform his/her duties.
A three-judge bench comprising of Justices Kanyi Kimondo, George Odunga and Enoch Chacha on Tuesday declared that sections 45(2)(3)and (6), 46(1)(b)(ii) and (c) and 48 of the Elections Act and sections 27(2)(3) and (6) and 28(1)(b)(ii) and (c) of the County Governments Act were meaningless and superfluous.
Section 45(2) spelt out that an MP would only be removed if found to have violated the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution or is found to have mismanaged public resources.
The same section dictated that one had to go through the court and have a judgment.
Section 46, on the other hand, limited the process to only a person who was registered to vote in the election in respect to the area represented by the MP or MCA.
Section 48 dictated that a recall is valid if the number of voters who concur in the recall election is at least 50 per cent of the total number of registered voters in the affected county or constituency.
The Judges ruled that the mentioned sections were against the Constitution and the rights of the electorate.
The decision came after two lobbies moved to court last year and sued the Attorney-General as well as Parliament for failing to amend the two Acts.
