Activist Okiya Omtatah Files a Petition to Compel Ruto to Resign Ahead of August Elections

Activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court seeking to have sitting public officers, including the deputy president, barred from running for president.

Omtatah, in a petition filed at the High Court on Monday, argues that any public officer among them a sitting deputy president, governor, deputy governor, MP, and MCA must vacate office before nomination as a presidential candidate.

"A declaration that a sitting president, a sitting deputy president, a sitting governor, and a sitting deputy governor cannot be elected to elective positions other than the ones they hold," Omtatah’s petition reads in part.

"That a declaration that any public officer, including a sitting deputy president, a sitting governor, a sitting deputy governor, a sitting MP, and a sitting MCA is not qualified for nomination as a presidential candidate."

The petitioner also wants the court to issue a declaration that a sitting president, deputy president, governor, and deputy governor must vacate office before they can be elected to elective positions other than the ones they hold.

The Elections Act require public officers eyeing political seats to resign six months to a general election.

Under the elections timelines issued by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ahead of the August 9th elections, civil servants seeking to run for political office are required to step down by February 9th this year.

Nominations for presidential candidates will take place between May 30th and June 10th, according to the IEBC's Election Operations Plan.

The official campaigns for the 2022 General Election will run from May 10th to August 6th, two days to the voting day.