Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip loses seat

Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip of the Jubilee Party. He has been dethroned. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip of the Jubilee Party has been dethroned following an appeal against High Court ruling that upheld his poll win.

The Court of Appeals in Mombasa on Thursday ordered the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct a fresh election as it overturned the High Court decision.

The decision is a big win for the petitioner, Mr Hassan Albeity, who had ran for the seat on a Wiper Democratic Party ticket.

On February 9, High Court Judge Asenath Ongeri dismissed Mr Albeity's petition citing failure to comply with court timelines and ordered each party to bear their costs.

"The respondent did not have time to respond to the issues which arose," the judge had ruled.

But in their ruling, judges Alnashir visram, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome noted that there were irregularities in the conduct of the election.

They said Mr Albeity, represented by lawyer Yusuf Aboubakar, had proved grounds which the High Court could have looked at relating to vote recount and scrutiny.

The second highest court in the land noted that irregularities marred the poll, including excess number of voters than those registered in one polling stations.

The irregularities, they ruled, were bound to affect the outcome of the results considering that vote difference was only 58.

Mr Albeity said he “thanked God” for the outcome of the appeal which he dedicated it to Lamu residents.