By RENSON BULUMA
Busia County: The High Court in Busia upheld the election of Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba after dismissing a petition filed by a voter.
Resident Judge Francis Tuiyott also ordered Mr Henry Nadimo Okello to pay the suit costs not exceeding Sh4 million to be shared by the respondents with Namwamba getting half the amount while IEBC and the returning officer Paul Kones will share Sh2 million.
Nadimo who was represented by lawyer Ashford Muriuki had cited several election malpractices such as bribery, voter intimidation, voter importation, late campaigns and use of public resources to campaign as some of the reasons for contesting the results of the March 4 General Election.
Other election offences cited included mismanagement of polls by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and doctoring of Forms 35 and 36 in favour of Namwamba.
Namwamba through his counsel Katwa Kigen and IEBC lawyer Maina Mutahi dismissed the claims as baseless. In the poll, Namwamba had won by a landslide margin garnering over 12,000 voters against his closest challenger former Assistant Minister for Water Raphael Wanjala who got less than 6,000 votes.
In the ruling that addressed each count on its own, the judge cited insufficient evidence, inconsistency and lack of evidence to warrant the nullification of the elections results.
“Having analysed the issues raised by the petition and the evidence presented, the court is now in position to answer the question it was asked to determine. The court concludes that the disputed elections were conducted and managed very substantially and in accordance to the constitution and the electoral process,” ruled Justice Tuiyott.
The allegations of electoral malpractice made by the petitioner against the respondents were not proved. And where the commission transgressed, the irregularities were insubstantial and did not compromise or affect the result or the outcome of the elections.
