High Court upholds Hassan Joho's victory

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho in court during the judgement of an election petition challenging his win. The court dismissed the petition. PHOTO | BRIAN OCHARO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Omar and his running mate Linda Shuma failed to prove allegations of ballot stuffing, voter bribery and unstamped ballot papers.
  • The judge further ordered Mr Omar and Ms Shuma to pay Mr Joho and the electoral commission a total of Sh8 million as costs.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho pulled through an election petition challenging his re-election, tightening his grip on Opposition politics at the Coast.

Justice Lydia Achode upheld Mr Joho’s election stating that the 10 grounds raised by the petitioners in seeking the nullification of the August 8 poll outcome were insufficient, based on hearsay and lacking in evidence.

Justice Achode said the petitioners, former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar and his running mate Linda Shuma, failed to prove allegations of ballot stuffing, voter bribery and unstamped ballot papers.

She said election petitions should not be used to seek repeat polls.

“The irregularities complained of in each of the grounds are not so grave either by themselves or in totality as to lead to the conclusion that there was no election held for the election of the governor of Mombasa, or that the elections were not free, fair, transparent and verifiable,” she ruled.

“The said irregularities did not have substantial effects on the final results, the reason therefore the petition dated September 8, 2017 and filed in court on September 13 is dismissed in its entirety.”

COURT BATTLES
The judge further ordered Mr Omar and Ms Shuma to pay Mr Joho and the electoral commission a total of Sh8 million as costs.

Mr Joho and his supporters broke into celebrations, praising the ruling.

The flamboyant Governor, who is also the ODM deputy party leader, has pulled through many court battles since he was first elected governor in 2013.

He has had to defend his academic credentials in court and currently the Kenya Revenue Authority is embroiled in a tussle with his family businesses over payment of taxes.

REQUEST TO RECUSE

A bitter critic of the Jubilee administration, Mr Joho announced that he will vie for the presidency in 2022 and has been working to consolidate his support in the region.

The ruling came as a big blow to Mr Omar who decamped from the Wiper Democratic Movement to Jubilee Party after he lost the poll.

The former Wiper Secretary-General, who has maintained a low profile since the August 8 election, had tried to cast aspersions on the independence of justice Achode and had demanded that she withdraws from the case.

Mr Omar is among top leaders who had shifted allegiance to the ruling coalition but missed out on the recent government appointments.

BIAS CLAIM

Last October, the court ruled that the State violated Mr Joho’s rights by commencing fresh investigations into his academic credentials.

Mr Omar vowed to appeal the judgment terming it a miscarriage of justice, adding that he will seek disciplinary action against justice Achode over alleged bias.

“The ruling was predetermined. The judge conducted herself in an unprofessional manner, was deliberately undermining the case and refused to withdraw,” Mr Omar said on phone.

LICENCES
He added: “We are not only going to appeal but seek disciplinary action against her.”

He wondered why a complaint against Mr Joho over an alleged forged examination result slip was made at the time given that the same matter had been raised in 2013.

At the same time, two freight firms associated with the family of Governor Joho were involved in a dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority over licences to operate cargo handling facilities.