The professor Ben Sihanya has been told to choose between the University of Nairobi lecture halls or serve as the chairperson of the ODM disciplinary committee.
In August last year, a lecturer was appointed the chairperson of the ODM disciplinary committee, a move the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission EACC challenged.
Prof Sihanya then moved to the court to get rid of the letters sent by EACC, which gave him 14 days to resign because he can't hold a political office or quit the ODM post.
Justice Mathews Nduma agreed with the EACC, saying a lecturer at a public university is rewarded and paid benefits out of the money provided by Parliament.
The judge said that the 1st petitioner Prof Sihanya is not allowed to hold office in a political party under section 12 of the Political Parties Act and section 23 of the Leadership and Integrity Act.
Prof Sihanya had argued that there was no conflict with him remaining as a lecturer and the ODM appointment since serving as the chairperson of the disciplinary committee was not elective.
He added that a lecturer in an institution of higher learning enjoys academic freedom and is not barred from expressing his or her political opinion, an officer is bound to relinquish his position if he is elected or appointed to an office in a political party.
Justice Nduma said that the office of a lecturer at a public university and at the same time holding the office of a chairperson of a disciplinary committee on a dominant political party amounts to daily or continuous political activities that could compromise the political neutrality of the office or a lecturer.
He was not a state officer and therefore not allowed under Article 77 2 of the constitution to hold office in a political party, and that the Political Parties Act does not apply to him because he was not a public officer, since UoN is an independent one.
EACC said that his appointment as chairperson of the party's disciplinary committee was in violation of sections of the Political Parties Act and Leadership and Integrity Act, which apply to all public officers.
The court found that the action by the respondent in giving the 1st petitioner the chance to become a lecturer at the University of Nairobi or opt to be the chairperson of the disciplinary committee was lawful, fair and just, following the above exegesis.