NAIROBI, November 12 – Former Kabete Member of Parliament Paul Muite’s bid to secure nomination to the 10th Parliament came a cropper on Wednesday after the High Court dismissed his case against the Electoral Commission of Kenya.
High Court Judges Joseph Nyamu and Roselyne Wendoh dismissed Muite’s case after he and his lawyer failed to turn up in court on Wednesday.
“The applicant and his counsel are not present in court yet the hearing was taken in the presence of all parties. We hereby dismiss this application dated February 20, 2008 with costs to the first respondent (ECK),” Justice Wendoh ruled.
Mr Muite had moved to court in February seeking to bar the nomination of MPs to the current Parliament until he had been given a chance to be heard, claiming that he had been short-changed when Safina’s rightful slot was given to ODM Kenya.
He wanted the court to compel the Electoral Commission of Kenya to allocate him one of the 12 slots for nominated MPs, arguing that Safina qualified for a seat based on its numerical strength in line with the 1997 Inter Party Parliamentary Group (IPPG) agreement.
Out of the 12 slots, ODM qualified for six after securing 99 out of the 210 constituencies, PNU with 43 MPs was entitled to three while ODM Kenya was allowed to nominate two members and KANU one.
Sh17 million bank theft
Elsewhere, two former employees of Chase Bank were on Wednesday charged with stealing Sh17 million from the bank’s city centre branch.
George Onyango Odongo, a relationship officer and Ruth Wanjugu Kariuki, the operations officer appeared before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei accused of allegedly stealing the money which came into their possession by virtue of their employment.
The court heard that the two committed the offence on diverse dates between October 13 and Tuesday last week.
They denied the charge and were remanded in custody pending completion of investigations. The case will be due in court on Thursday for hearing of their bail application.
About The Author
