The High Court has upheld the victory of ANC’s Peter Oscar Nabulindo in the Matungu by-elections that were held on March 4.
This is after ODM’s candidate David Were moved to court challenging Nabulindo’s victory.
Were will now pay Kshs3 million to cover the cost of the case after Justice William Musyoka dismissed his petition.
According to the judge, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) , Returning Officer John Kirui and the MP will each receive Ksh1 million.
Justice Musyoka said that Were’s agents who were cross-examined and also testified in the case failed to prove that they had been denied entry into the polling stations.
“They all confirmed that they were the first persons at the stations on polling day. There is no evidence of voter intimidation and none of the witnesses indicated the occurrence of violence,” said Justice Musyoka.
In his petition, Were accused Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala, politician Stanley Livondo and Nabulindo of inciting their supporters to cause violence during the mini-polls.
He claimed that rowdy youths caused violence on the voting day by attacking and injuring voters, IEBC officials and members of the public thus scaring voters away from the polling stations.
He also claimed that most of his agents were not allowed to enter some of the polling stations even during the process of counting votes.
Were accused the returning officer of refusing to nullify Nabulindo’s victory even when the excessive violence was allegedly unleashed against IEBC officials, voters and party agents.
After the elections, the returning officer declared Nabulindo the winner after he garnered 14,257 votes. Were came second with 10,565 while Alex Lanya of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) was third with 4,813 votes.
Were is a former Member Of Parliement of Matungu constituency.
RELATED STORY: How Court Of Appeal Judge Got Involved In The Murder Of Dutch Business Man Tob Cohen
