A petition was on Monday filed by two Nairobi residents seeking to quash the resignation of Polycarp Igathe as the Deputy Governor.
Somin Kokoyo and Javan Owala asked the court to declare Igathe’s resignation null and void.
They further asked the court to issue a declaration that Nairobi County’s Executive Committee is not properly constituted with a vacancy in the Office of the Deputy Governor.
In the affidavit filed on Tuesday, the two petitioners stated: “The continuous undermining of the constitutional role of deputy governor sets a dangerous precedent to the rule of law, constitutionalism and is an upfront to the spirit of devolution in Kenya.”
[caption caption="Former Nairobi Deputy governor Polycarp Igathe"]
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They argued that Igathe’s resignation put the county into a leadership crisis and the rights of the city dwellers under Article 38 were violated since a vacancy in the office of a deputy governor will affect the operations of the county boss.
“The constitution stipulates that a governor and his deputy are elected on a joint ticket. There cannot be a vacancy in the office of a Deputy Governor,” they stated.
The two further claimed that during the August 8 General Election, Governor Mike Sonko and Igathe publicly entered into a social contract with the people of Nairobi.
In the contract, they argued that Igathe was tasked with handling the administrative affairs of the county while Sonko was tasked with handling the political affairs.
Sonko had, however, moved ahead and appointed former Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo as the co-chair of the Nairobi Regeneration Committee to replace Igathe.
[caption caption="Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and Former Deputy Governor Igathe"]
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Igathe announced his resignation on January 12 citing failure to earn the trust of Sonko to enable him to run the county.
