Lawyer Christian Andole asked the seven-judge bench hearing the Building Bridges Initiative appeal to compel President Uhuru Kenyatta to refund taxpayers money used during the process.
Making his submissions on Friday, July 2, the Mang'u High School alumnus noted that the process was unconstitutional and the High Court should have asked the President to pay back monies used.
He argued that the High Court judges ruling on the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020 was enough to declare that the President owed the taxpayers.
"... this court should order President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta to refund the public monies used in the unconstitutional constitutional process. My Lord this is a novel issue for various reasons because no court in Kenya has made a determination on Article 226 (5) of the constitution," lawyer Andole stated.
“The High Court’s finding and declarations were sufficient for an order to make good the loss of public funds; no evidence was needed for that order to be made,” Andole maintained.
The young lawyer, who was school captain in his final year at Mang'u high school, likened his appeal before the bench to a case in South Africa where former President Jacob Zuma was ordered to refund taxpayers money used to construct his house.
"No court in Kenya has made a determination on article 226(5) of the Constitution. South Africa is the only country that ordered President Jacob Zuma to refund approximately Ksh1B used to build his house for it was taxpayers money," he added.
Justices Teresia Matheka, Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, and Chacha Mwita on May 13 ruled that the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020 is unconstitutional.
Andole is representing petitioner Morara Omoke who wants the Court of Appeal to compel President Kenyatta to personally refund the National Treasury all the money spent on the BBI Constitutional of Kenya Amendment Bill 2020.
In the application, Omoke claimed the president illegally allocated and used public funds to the BBI committee to initiate and promote the bill in the midst of a pandemic.
The petitioner also accused the president of using taxpayers’ money to sway the decision of Members of County Assemblies to pass the bill at the county level.
MCAs received a Ksh4 billion car grant which was allegedly used to lobby them to vote in favour of the bill.
