Karua- Waiguru election case to be retried

Governor Anne Waiguru

The election duel between Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua is far from over.

Their battle was halted by the High Court when lawyer Karua lost a case but the Court of Appeal yesterday gave her a second chance before the same judge who initially threw out the case.

But this could wait. Immediately after the ruling, Governor Waiguru filed a notice of appeal.

In a ruling yesterday, appellate justices Mohamed Warsame, Daniel Musinga and Willima Ouko also waded into the costs slapped to Karua.

They unanimously found that Sh10 million was too much for her to shoulder after her case was thrown out by Justice Lucy Gitari at the preliminary stage.

“It is not a punishment or a deterrent measure to scare away litigants from the doors of justice. In a matter that was determined on a preliminary application, and where the parties appeared before court eight times, the capping of costs at Sh10 million was unreasonable and unmerited,” the court ruled.

The three-judge bench said: “We agree with the appellant that such costs would discourage citizens from filing election petitions before the High Court.”