Court nullifies election of ODM MP Abdikadir Hussein
By Wycliffe Nyamasege, March 3, 2023
Lagdera Member of Parliament Abdikadir Hussein was on Friday, March 3, dealt a huge blow after the High Court nullified his election following a petition filed by UDA’s Abdiqani Zeitun.
The court ruled that allegations of electoral irregularities had been proved and consequently ordered a fresh poll.
Hussein, who was elected on an ODM party ticket, garnered 5,939 votes to beat Zeitun who got 4,863 votes in the poll conducted on August 9, 2022.
Zeitun moved to court to challenge Abdikadir’s election, citing massive irregularities in the poll.
The ruling comes weeks after the court allowed the petitioner’s request for a vote recount.
The opposition party also suffered a blow after a Malindi court nullified the election of Harrison Garama Kombe as Magarini MP on Friday, following a successful petition by UDA candidate Stanley Kenga.
The court found out that the poll was marred by massive irregularities, voter stuffing, and reduction and interchanging of results in favour of Kombe.
The court ordered the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct a fresh poll in strict conformity with the law.
Elsewhere in Wajir, Governor Ahmed Abdullahi Jiir won big after High Court upheld his election in the August 9, 2022, general election.
In his ruling, Justice George Nduru dismissed a petition filed by former NHIF chief executive officer Hassan Adamsaid, saying Governor Abdullahi was validly elected.
“There is no evidence in record or even to suggest that unregistered voter voted in a particular station or no evidence showed the voters who voted in any polling station were more than the registered voters in those stations,” he ruled.
The judge further said although there were irregularities during the election, they were not sufficient enough to change the results used to declare Governor Abdullahi as the winner.
“I find that IEBC officials failed to counter-sign Form 37A as alleged which must have been caused by human error which was excusable because no election is perfect. This is not enough evidence to overturn an election,” the judge said.