Wa Iria moves to Supreme Court over IEBC decision to bar him from vying

Presidential aspirant Mwangi Wa Iria. [File, Standard]

Presidential aspirant Mwangi Wa Iria has moved to the Supreme Court seeking to petition the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) decision over his candidature.

IEBC reportedly blocked Wa Iria’s application over failure to submit enough signatures to support his presidential bid. He needed not less than 48,000 signatures from constituents of at least 24 counties in the country.

“I have walked a very rough journey and that is why I decided to present my case to the Chief Justice personally. I was attended to by her legal officer who explained her absence,” the Murang’a governor said.

Wa Iria was locked out of the presidential race by the electoral body during the process of clearing candidates ahead of the August 9 polls.

In a press briefing on the steps of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the outgoing county chief made allegations of discrimination by the IEBC.

“I registered a dispute with the Dispute Resolution Committee on May 29. It is almost a month now and no one has heard my case. They deliberately ignored my dispute,” Wa Iria claimed.

“When the committee locked me out, I filed a case at the High Court on June 10. Since then it has been to and fro. My case has not been heard 30 days later,” he continued.

The governor said that since he filed the case at the High Court, two judges have been appointed to preside. “The first judge to be given the case was changed shortly after and the case was given to Justice Anthony Mrima. However, IEBC asked the judge to recuse himself from the matter, citing an ongoing case.”

Wa Iria was seeking to run for the presidency in the August General Election on his Usawa Party ticket.