Court nullifies election of Mathare MP, orders fresh poll

By JOHN MUTHONI

The Court of Appeal Tuesday nullified the election of Mathare MP George Wanjohi and ordered fresh polls.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Jamila Mohammed, Gatembu Kairu and D. K Maraga, in their ruling yesterday, said the varying tallies that were released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) returning officer could not identify the real winner of the election.

The judges said the conflicting figures could not therefore be used to declare Wanjohi as the MP.

“In view of these conflicting figures, we cannot therefore declare the first respondent as the winner as we were urged to do. As a matter of fact, we are unable to determine who the real winner is,” the bench ruled.

The court noted that IEBC had on March 6, last year, announced Margret Wanjiru’s son Steven Kariuki as the winner with 34,957 votes against Wanjohi’s 32,156.

Reversed decision

However, two days later, the same returning officer is said to have reversed the decision by declaring Wanjohi the winner with 27,262 votes against Kariuki’s 26,916.

“According to the evidence by the appellant, and based on his own tally as at the 5th March of 2013, the first respondent had garnered 31,997 votes against his rival’s 34,556 votes, a difference of 2, 559 votes. The election court opined that the first respondent emerged triumphant by a whisker,” the ruling read.

The judges said the High Court Judge Justice Kimondo erred in ruling that the IEBC had powers to revoke the certificate that had been issued to the former Housing Minister’s son.

The judges added that the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to order a case be remitted back even after lapse of six months.

Wanjohi’s lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui sought for time to file an appeal at the Supreme Court.