Mutua’s victory was nullified by a three-judge bench of the Appeals Court in a ruling read out by Justice William Ouko/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 8 – Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua’s 2017 election victory has been nullified after a successful appeal by arch-rival Wavinya Ndeti of the Wiper party.
Mutua’s victory wathree-judge by a three judge bench of the Appeals Court in a ruling read out by Justice William Ouko.
“The appellant’s appeal is allowed and the judgement and order of the High Court given on 9th February 2018 is hereby set aside. It is hereby directed that the third respondent was not validly declared as the Governor of Machakos County. IEBC is herby directed to organise and conduct a fresh election for the position of the Governor of Machakos County in conformity with the constitution, the Elections Act and the relevant regulations,” he declared.
The judges ruled that the election results as declared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission failed the constitutional test and could not be verified.
But Mutua has declared that he will be challenging the decision at the Supreme Court, while insisting that the was validly elected.
“We will go to the Supreme Court and we are still in office until the Supreme Court declares otherwise because from my reading, they have actually gone against what the Supreme Court itself stands for and some of these will actually be shown not to be accurate,” he stated.
“They have not even covered the issue of the validity of the results; they have not looked at the issue of the tallying, the numbers and other substantial factors.”
Wavinya on the other hand has hailed the Appeals Court for nullifying Mutua’s victory.
“The ruling has been made, the judges have done their work, he should just swallow it the way I did. The truth has come out and I am putting my trust in God. God has worked through the courts to reveal and manifest himself,” she said.
In her petition, Ndeti had argued that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) erroneously declared Mutua the winner.
Ndeti, who unsuccessfully contested the seat on a Wiper party ticket, further claimed that Mutua used county resources – including vehicles and funds to campaign for his re-election, contrary to laws governing elections.
Ndeti wanted Mutua’s re-election nullified and a fresh gubernatorial poll ordered by the court.
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