Kwale Senator retains seat after petition
Kwale County Senator Boy Juma Boy (left) consults with his lawyer Francis Kadima during the hearing of a petition filed against him. The senator has assured the Kwale International Sugar Company of his support and asked residents to stop burning sugar cane plantations. FILE |
What you need to know:
- The petitioners failed to adduce sufficient evidence to invalidate the electoral process
- Mr Boy garnered 60, 886 votes against former Matuga MP and Cabinet minister Chirau Mwakwere who got 41, 753 votes
Kwale Senator Mr Boy Juma Boy has retained his seat after the High Court in Mombasa dismissed an election petition filed against him.
High Court judge Fred Ochieng’ upheld the election of Mr Boy noting that the petitioners failed to adduce sufficient evidence to invalidate the electoral process. He also ordered the petitioners to pay Sh2.5 million to the respondents.
Mr Mwamlole Mbwana and Mr Kalimbo Naveed had named Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the petition claiming that its officials had altered some forms 35 and 36.
They claimed that IEBC officials chased away the agents and started the alteration while transporting the documents to the tallying centres.
They also claimed that some of the agents were followed a week later after the elections were over to fill the forms 35.
Further, he faulted the IEBC for failing to submit the results electronically, saying the commission manipulated the kits deliberately.
But in his judgment, Justice Ochieng’ said there was no legal basis on the claim that presiding officers had altered the electoral documents.
“The mistakes in postings of the numbers were cross cutting and it is obvious that the greatest beneficiary was the first respondent (Mr Boy),” the judge noted.
CHIRAU MWAKWERE
The judge further noted that the petitioners did not adduce any evidence to support their allegations, and said that evidence in court indicated that the forms that were allegedly altered were in the same state they left the polling stations.
“It therefore defies logic that the presiding officers could have tampered with the results announced and the errors that emerged did not affect the actual voting exercise,” he said.
Mr Boy garnered 60, 886 votes against former Matuga MP and Cabinet minister Chirau Mwakwere who got 41, 753 votes.
According the judge, even if the errors were corrected, the changes would not affect the results of the elections.
He dismissed the petition saying that the results were a true demonstration of the true will of the Kwale County residents.
“I hereby find that no errors were committed and direct the IEBC to issue a certificate to the first respondent to confirm the validity of the election,” the judge said.
He ordered the petitioners to pay costs of Sh2.5 million with Sh1 million going to the Senator and Sh1.5million to the IEBC and the returning officer.
