Post: Court postpones elections for officials of a troubled coffee society

High Court in Murang'a has postponed the scheduled elections of management officials of Kangunu Cooperative society, which were scheduled for October 11.In a suit that was filed by the recently interdicted officials, Justice James Wakiaga also allowed the 11 ousted management officials to vie for their former positions in the polls that were rescheduled to take place on October 18.During a virtual hearing, the plaintiff lawyer, Evans Ondieki argued that the disbanded management board was unfairly terminated without a warning or proper explanation.The advocated contended that the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs, Wycliffe Oparanya had overstepped his authority by dissolving the management board of the troubled coffee society of Mathioya Sub County saying cooperative function fall under devolved administration.Two weeks ago Farmers protested against corruption, misconduct, and poor management in Kangunu society, leading to the cooperative CS disbanding the board and directing fresh election s within 14 days.Meanwhile, Oparanya established a caretaker team to manage the society's operations and cautioned disbanded board members against returning to their offices.'The management board was dissolved by the minister, which is beyond his jurisdiction, as these functions are devolved and not under the Cabinet Secretary's mandate. Any action in violation of the constitution is invalid,' Ondieki stated.With the elections only two days away, Ondieki expressed concerns about the fairness of the process, noting that members of the disbanded board did not have the opportunity to campaign.He sought a postponement of the elections so that the previous chairperson, together with his team, can adequately prepare for the elections. Whereas, in his ruling, Justice Wakiaga rescheduled Kangunu Cooperative Society elections to October 18, allowing the fired team to participate.'The applicants are at liberty to contest for the elections of the cooperative society to take place on October 18,' ruled Wakiaga.Source: Kenya News Agency