Governors plan legal battle over Uhuru graft report

Kenya: The demand by President Uhuru Kenyatta that governors implicated in corruption should leave office temporarily pending probe is now the subject for legal hairsplitting.

Governors backed by their lawyers are now preparing the ground to fight what appears to be an Executive directive, using loopholes in the Constitution. One of their lawyers, Ahmednassir Abdullahi, has set the ball rolling by advising the governors mentioned in a report on corruption to stay put. In the alternative, the lawyer says the governors should consider such a move as resignation would usher in their deputies into the offices for the remaining part of the term.

Debate on whether governors can legally step aside from their offices is likely to overshadow the actual reasons why they have been asked to temporarily leave office. In focus is the possible repercussions of having a governor out of office on a compulsory leave even for 60 days.

The Constitution provides that when the governor is absent, the deputy shall take over in acting capacity. But a forcible suspension from office is not contemplated in Constitution. A forcible exit from office can be interpreted to mean terminating existence of a county government.