Court of Appeal upholds Joyce Emanikor's election victory

Turkana Woman Representative Joyce Emanikor (centre) with her supporters in Eldoret on July 12, 2018 after the Court of Appeal upheld her election win. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  WYCLIFF KIPSANG  &  ONYANGO K’ONYANGO

What you need to know:

  • In its ruling, the court said that there was no evidence to prove that the election was not free and fair.

  • The court also dismissed Ms Lokuruka's claims that three sets of results were announced by the electoral body IEBC.

  • The court also dismissed the petitioner's claims that some forms were not stamped.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday upheld the election of Joyce Emanikor as Turkana Woman Representative.

Court of Appeal judges Erastus Githinji, Fatuma Sichale and Hannah Okwengu sitting in Eldoret said the petitioner, Pauline Lokuruka, failed to substantiate claims of massive irregularities in the election.

In its ruling, the court said that there was no evidence to prove that the election was not free and fair.

Also Read

NO EVIDENCE

The court also dismissed Ms Lokuruka's claims that three sets of results were announced by the electoral body IEBC.

The court also dismissed the petitioner's claims that some forms were not stamped.

"There is no legal requirement for stamping of all forms. There was no evidence adduced to show that this impacted on the result of the election," said the three-judge bench.

JUSTICE SERVED

After the ruling was delivered, Ms Emanikor's supporters burst into song and dance.

Addressing the press outside the Appellate court, Ms Emanikor lauded the court for "serving justice to the people of Turkana County."

"I call upon my sister Pauline and others to join me in working for the people of Turkana. The Judiciary has served justice to the people of Turkana," said Ms Emanikor.

OPEN MANNER

Turkana Parliamentary Group Caucus chairperson and MP for Turkana North Christopher Nakuleu also praised the Judiciary for handling election cases in a more open manner.

In the August 8, 2017 polls, Ms Emanikor of Jubilee Party garnered 53,131 votes to be declared the winner, whereas Ms Lokuruka of ODM came second with 49,670 votes.

However, Ms Lokuruka successfully challenged Ms Emanikor's win at the High Court leading to the nullification of the victory.

KENYA GAZETTE

Judge Daniel Ogola Ogembo sitting at High Court in Lodwar on March 2 ruled that vital IEBC forms were not stamped.

He also said the results on the IEBC portal, and those in the declaration form and the Kenya Gazette results did not match. That they all had different figures.

The judge slapped IEBC with Sh4 million as cost of the petition to be split between between Ms Lokuruka and Ms Emanikor.

In the headlines