Kibe vows to fight for her Gatundu seat after court annuls her election
By Mathew Ndungu, October 11, 2020
Gatundu North residents will have to wait longer for a by-election after Member of Parliament (MP) Wanjiku Kibe appealed the ruling to unseat her.
On Wednesday last week, Judge Weldon Korir annulled Wanjiku’s election into Parliament and directed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to conduct fresh elections.
Justice Korir ruled that the MP’s election was illegal because she was still an Member of County Assembly when she ran for the seatd by IEBC.
Former MP Clement Waibara challenged her election and the Court of Appeal directed the matter to be heard by the Constitutional Court.
In his judgment, Korir noted that evidence showed Kibe was still a nominated MCA on June 27, 2017, when her nomination to run for the Gatundu North MP was gazetted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The judge directed the Deputy Registrar to immediately and without delay, transmit his decision to the Speaker of the National Assembly for action.
But Kibe has since filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal.
She says the decision by Judge Korir relied on Article 99 (2) of the constitution to nullify her parliamentary position but ignored to consider Article 99 (3) which states that a person is not disqualified under clause (2) unless all possibility of appeal or review of the relevant sentence or decision has been exhausted.
Speaking at Ndiko Primary school in her constituency on Friday, the first time MP told his political nemesis to wait until 2022 where she vowed to also battle it out to defend her seat.
She said her transformation agenda for the vast constituency was farfetched from the know-how of his opponents who she accused of failing to offer developmental leadership in the past.
“It’s unfortunate that I have been through right left and centre with unending court cases. Some people have become perennial litigants simply because they have no people’s mind at heart. I will fight on to transform this Sub County. There will be no elections until 2022,” she said.