Poll battle goes to top court

Mr Chris Bichage (seated left) at Kisumu law court where the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling that nullified his election as Nyaribari Chache member of parliament on December 11, 2013. Ten months after the people of Nyaribari Chache elected a new Member of Parliament through a by-election, former MP Chris Bichage has not lost hope in his legal fight. FILE PHOTO | JACOB OWITI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The petition before the Supreme Court has however exposed sharp division among top officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) who they have filed two conflicting affidavits in response to Dr Bichage’s suit
  • During the General Election, Dr Bichage was declared the winner with 11,638 votes against Mr Tong’i’s 10,774

Ten months after the people of Nyaribari Chache elected a new Member of Parliament through a by-election, former MP Chris Bichage has not lost hope in his legal fight.

Dr Bichage is in the Supreme Court to challenge both the Court of Appeal and High Court decisions which overturned his March 4, 2013 victory leading to the election of the current MP Richard Tong’i.

The petition before the Supreme Court has however exposed sharp division among top officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) who they have filed two conflicting affidavits in response to Dr Bichage’s suit.

IEBC chairman Isack Hassan has waded into the case by filing an affidavit despite the fact that the commission’s head of legal services Mahamud Jabane did the same.

STRANGE DECISION

Mr Hassan’s decision is strange given that in all other electoral petitions involving governors, senators and MPs, he left returning officers to swear affidavits in response to the suits.

The confounding situation is compounded by the fact that Mr Hassan did not respond to both petitions at the High Court in Kisii and the Court of Appeal in Kisumu.

Dr Bichage is contesting both the High Court and Court of Appeal decisions on 56 grounds.

During the General Election, Dr Bichage was declared the winner with 11,638 votes against Mr Tong’i’s 10,774.

However, High Court Judge Edward Muriithi nullified his election on grounds that the validity of the election was not verifiable due to missing statutory documents and irregularities in three polling stations.

Dr Bichage moved to the Court of Appeal where the judges upheld the decision, leading to a by-election on December 30 2013 in which Mr Tong’i won with a 10,100 votes against Dr Bichage’s 9,712.

He argues that the High Court did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition by Mr Tong’i as it was filed outside the 28 days stipulated by the law.

He also contests that the Court of Appeal made a mistake by making a pronouncement instead of giving a judgment before the by-election.

The hearing is set for October 30.