Judiciary in rush to clear 2022 petitions as deadline beckons

The courts are racing against time to conclude hundreds of disputes arising from the 2022 General Election with less than three weeks to the March 31 deadline.

According to the law, all election petitions arising from the August election must be concluded within six months which lapse at the end of March.

On Friday, the Judiciary edged closer to concluding the disputes by nullifying the election of two MPs due to massive irregularities.

The High Court sitting in Meru and Malindi nullified the election of Abdikadir Hussein (Lagdera) and Harrison Kombe (Magarini), respectively, citing electoral irregularities.

Hussein though, moved to court to have the orders stayed on account his constituents would significantly be deprived of the right to representation for a long time.

“We are glad to note that we already have a stay order but the fight for our people must continue to the Court of Appeal as soon as possible,” said Hussein.

In nullifying his election, the High Court ruled that there were irregularities in the August 9, 2022 exercise and directed that a re-election be conducted on a date to be set by the IEBC.

Cited irregularities

In the Kombe case, the Malindi High Court cited irregularities in the petition filed at the court. The court ruled that a by- election should be conducted in 90 days.

 Justice Alfred Mabeya ruled that Kombe who emerged winner in last year’s August election on an ODM ticket engaged in ballot stuffing and altering of election results.

 Kombe defeated Stanley Kenga of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party by only 21 votes. He got 11,946 votes against Kenga’s 11,925.

 Kenga filed a petition at the Malindi high court seeking the nullification of Kombe’s win over alleged malpractice.

In Kisii, the High Court rejected a petition challenging the election of County Woman Representative Dorice Donya Aburi in the August elections.

   Justice Stella Mutuku stated that the petition did not meet the necessary threshold of standard to prove Aburi’s victory.

Bribery allegations

The two petitioners, Job Nyabuto and Ezekiel Okenye, claimed that there were voter bribery allegations, coordinated violence from Chiefs and the police and various other irregularities in multiple polling stations. However, the petitioners failed to provide sufficient evidence of these purported activities.

For instance, Nyabuto admitted that he did not provide evidence on the number of the names of the Chiefs who allegedly engaged in the violence.

Mutuku also added that the petitioner failed to provide evidence on various other alleged multpractices, and provided no proof that an agent who was representing an independent candidate was denied entry to a polling station.

Separately, the High Court in Bungoma dismissed a petition contesting the election of Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa.

Justice Mary Kasango at the same time, slapped the petitioner, Brian Khaemba, with a Sh2.7 million bill. Justice Kasango said Khaemba, who based his petition on alleged violence witnessed during the election that even turned fatal, failed to substantiate how it affected the election outcome in his pleadings.

“It will be a high price to pay to allow the allegation of election malpractice of criminal nature to proceed at the risk of affecting the murder trial (in a separate court) in the absence of evidence of the alleged malpractice being pleaded to show it affected the right of the electorates,” said the judge.

The same court also dismissed a petition challenging the election of Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama.

 The petition, filed by Kelly Walubengo, alleged electoral malpractices, violence, and fraudulent processes in the election that took place in August 2022.

In the lawsuit, Walubengo accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of electoral malpractices and fraud. However, Judge Musyoka Makau ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support these allegations.

The IEBC declared Wanyama the winner of the Webuye West parliamentary seat with 14,325 votes, while Walubengo received 12,005 votes.

In Nyahururu, the High Court dismissed an election petition challenging the victory of Kinangop MP, Zachary Thuku Kwenya.

The petition was filed by Amos Chege, the UDA aspirant for the seat during the last year’s polls. Chege had accused his competitor of alleged voter bribery and improper votes tallying.

He claimed that the election was marred with massive irregularities, voter bribery, swapping of results, voter suppression, and voter manipulation that compromised its integrity.