ODM tribunal upholds Gem MP nomination again

Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo addresses the media at the Parliament buildings on January 21, 2022. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Appeals Tribunal has upheld the nomination of incumbent Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo for the second time.

This was after the Tribunal dismissed an application by his opponent, Jalango Midiwo seeking the party tribunal to review its first judgment.

The tribunal had upheld the lawmaker’s nomination, prompting his competitor to challenge the decision for a second time.

While upholding Odhiambo's nomination, the tribunal stated that the election was conducted in line with the ODM nomination rules, adding that the appellant failed to provide evidence that the gadgets manipulated the final results.

Further, the Tribunal pointed out that Midiwo could not also indicate how the violence manifested in Gem during the voting day as nobody was attacked nor an affidavit was sworn.

Midiwo, a relative of the ODM party leader had petitioned Odhiambo's nomination after the April 13 party primaries.

He claimed that the process was flawed and marred with violence.

Midiwo and Odhiambo faced each other at the just concluded ODM primaries, where Midiwo lost to Odhiambo by about 1, 000 votes.

Odhiambo won the ticket with 7,405 votes against Midiwo’s 6,384 votes.

After the results were announced, Midiwo had appealed to the ODM National Elections Board to conduct fresh nominations saying the exercise was unfair.

Additional Reporting by Olivia Odhiambo...