Julius Malombe moves to Supreme Court to reclaim Kitui seat

Former Kitui Governor Julius Malombe has moved to the Supreme Court seeking to invalidate the election of his successor Charity Ngilu.

Dr Malombe, whose appeal against the High Court ruling in March that dismissed his election petition, was thrown out by the Court of Appeal on June 28, has moved to the Supreme Court saying he is dissatisfied with the ruling by both courts.

Court of Appeal judges Roselyn Nambuye, Mohammed Warsame and Prof Otieno Odek dismissed his appeal for lack of merit but Mr Malombe contested the ruling terming it “erroneous”.

In his notice of appeal filed on July 6, the former governor says the ruling delivered by both the High court and Court of Appeal failed to consider his evidence on alleged electoral malpractices and inflation of votes.

Mr Malombe, who polled a distant third in last year’s governor's election, also claims the three Court of Appeal judges were wrong to rule there is no evidence to show Ms Ngilu gained any advantage from the alleged malpractices.

“Take notice that the appellant being dissatisfied with the entire decision of the Court of Appeal intends to appeal to the Supreme Court of Kenya against the whole of the said decision as decided” the notice reads.

When Justice Pauline Nyamweya dismissed his petition for lack of merit in March, Mr Malombe appealed the ruling saying it was delivered by a judge who is not gazetted to handle election petitions.