On Friday, November 27, High Court judge Hedwig Ong'udi temporarily stopped the swearing-in of Paul Mutunga as Nairobi Deputy Governor.
This followed an application filed by activist, Okiya Omutatah, who questioned the speed at which his vetting and approval was done following his approval by the County Assembly.
Omutatah adds to the list of several individuals who have come out to question Mutunga's approval without doing a proper background check. This includes an active case of graft.
According to the Nation, Mutunga and 13 other respondents including a former governor, have been accused of embezzling a total sum of Ksh58 million by illegally paying a law firm handling a case between the City Council of Nairobi and a private company.
Mutunga is said to have been a beneficiary of the proceeds of the case as he allegedly received Ksh5 million.
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Noordin Haji, approved five charges against Mutunga including two counts of unlawful acquisition of public property and two counts of dealing with suspect property.
Haji also approved charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit an offence of graft together with three others to defraud the City Council of Ksh10 million.
He was also charged with engaging in an arrangement to offset a debt of Ksh2 million which is said to be part of the Ksh58 million taken from the county.
In 2014, the former county chief of staff is accused of obtaining Ksh5 million form a law firm, moneys believed to be from public property. He was also accused of using his position as a councillor to obtain Ksh1,490,000 which is part of public property.
In Omtata's petition, he argued that the nomination, vetting and approval of Mutunga is a nullity as he had not been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
IEBC had rejected a request by Jubilee Secretary General, Raphael Tuju, who had written to the agency seeking clearance of Mutunga, stating the appointment of the deputy governor should be made and submitted to it by the governor.
Two petitioners asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to bar Mutunga from assuming office arguing he failed to satisfy both moral and ethical requirements.
