Okoth Obado reinstated as Migori governor
Mr Okoth Obado (left) and his lawyer, Okong’o Omogeni, on April 3, 2014, after the Supreme Court stopped the electoral commission from declaring his seat as vacant. PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI
The Supreme Court has reinstated Okoth Obado as Migori governor, setting aside a Court of Appeal decision that nullified his election.
The justices ruled that the appellate court exceeded its jurisdiction by considering new evidence.
While making the ruling in March, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Kisumu, said tallying errors compromised the quality of an election that Migori County voters deserved.
It brushed off an argument by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that the errors were due to human error.
During the 2013 General Election, Mr Obado was declared the winner after garnering 123,821 votes against Prof Oyugi’s 123,653.
The difference was only 163 votes, but after further scrutiny and a recount, the margin increased to 577.
SUPREME COURT PETITION
During the hearing of the appeal at the Supreme Court, IEBC accused the Court of Appeal of creating its own evidence in arriving at a decision to nullify Mr Obado's election.
The Supreme Court judges were also urged by Mr Obado's lawyers, Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Okong’o Omogeni, to set aside the appellate judgement since “the three judges failed to address issues of law and fact.”
Mr Omogeni then urged the judges to strike out two new affidavits by the petitioner, Prof Edward Akong’o Oyugi, and by Mrs Ann Anyang that introduced new facts and were not pleaded both at the High Court and Court of Appeal.
