Court nullifies Jubilee Nyandarua Woman Rep nomination

The Jubilee Party will have to go back to the drawing board after the Court of Appeal nullified the nomination of Faith Gitau as its candidate for the Nyandarua woman representative seat and ordered fresh nominations in two days.

The party has the option of nominating a candidate for the seat within the ordered period if it cannot hold fresh primaries.

The judgment was delivered by Court of Appeal judges Roselyn Nambuye, Daniel Musinga and Gatembu Kairu.

Incumbent Nyandarua Woman Representative Wanjiku Muhia had filed the appeal.

The appellate judges overturned a judgment of the High Court that had reinstated Ms Gitau’s nomination after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal handed the party ticket to Ms Muhia.

In the Jubilee Party nomination held on April 26, Ms Gitau received 106,004 votes against Ms Muhia's 75,296.

COMPLAINT

Mr Muhia rejected the results and lodged a complaint before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal, which nullified Ms Gitau’s win.

Ms Gitau moved to the High Court, which dismissed the tribunal’s findings.

Ms Muhia then moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the High Court ruling.

On Thursday, Ms Gitau said she was not worried about the Court of Appeal decision to nullify her certificate, adding that she was confident she would retain the ticket.

Ms Muhia welcomed the ruling, saying it is a big win for the people of Nyandarua County.

She blamed Jubilee officials who conducted the nominations in the county, saying they were biased and should resign.

She said she is ready to face her opponent.

“I call upon the Jubilee Party to conduct free, fair and transparent nominations so that the area residents can have a candidate of their choice,” Ms Muia said.

Additional reporting by Samwel Owino.