Speaker now declares Wajir West seat vacant

Wajir West parliamentary seat is now officially vacant.

Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi invoked Section 16(3) of the Election Act to declare the seat vacant two weeks after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Mr Mohamed Kolosh.

It is under the Election Act 2011 that the speaker is required to give the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) a written notice of the vacancy within a period of 21 days from the date the court nullified the election.

Section 16(3) states that the speaker shall issue a notice declaring the seat vacant in accordance with Article 101 of the Constitution requiring him to give a notice to IEBC.

With the notice published on Friday in the gazette notice, IEBC has 21 days to set a date for the by-election.

Kolosh’s victory was nullified by the Supreme Court after finding that there were irregularities in the manner in which the August 2017 election was conducted.

Judges Mohamed Ibrahim, JB Ojwang, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndungu and Isaac Lenaola concurred with the High Court decision that irregularities at Qara Polling Station affected the outcome of the election.

“It is our finding, in the circumstances, that the election for the seat of Member of Parliament for Wajir West Constituency was not conducted substantially in accordance with the terms of the Constitution, and more specifically, those of Articles 81, 82 and 86 of the Constitution, which had been transgressed.

It is quite clear that the irregularities at Qara Polling Station did affect the outcome of the election,” reads part of the judgement.

High Court judge Francis Tuiyot had ruled early last year that the petitioner Abdirahiman Mohamed had proved that results from Qara and Korich were manipulated in favour of Kolosh.

Court documents show that 628 people had registered as voters in Qara, out of which 458 turned to vote but the returning officer announced that Kolosh had garnered 590 votes.