Joy, heartbreak as Timamy carries the day

By Patrick Beja  and Paul Gitau

Celebrations broke out in Lamu and Malindi after the Court of Appeal nullified the planned December 2 gubernatorial by-election and reinstated United Democratic Forum’s Issa Timany.

Three judges in the Court of Appeal sitting in Malindi said High Court Justice Florence Muchemi misdirected herself on September 26 when she nullified Timamy’s victory on the mere basis of missing counterfoils in the ballot boxes.

Timamy becomes the first politician to be reinstated after his victory was nullified through court action following the March 4 General Election. Yesterday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was withdrawing preparation for the December 2 by-election.

Timamy and his would-be challenger Fahim Twaha, a former assistant minister in the Moi government and three-term MP for Lamu West Constituency, have waged a bitter  campaign that divided the Jubilee Alliance, to which they both belong, and also local elected leaders.

Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa and his Lamu East counterpart Shariff Ali Athman had thrown their weight behind Twaha while Timamy had received the support of CORD senators and governors apart from Lamu County MP Shakila Abdalla and CORD losers in the March 4 polls.

 “Robbed”

Timamy clashed with officials of the local provincial administration as land grabbing and the matter of the “immigrant population” at Mpeketoni became a key issue in the campaigns. Twaha claimed IEBC was biased in Timamy’s favour.

As Timamy jubilated, Twaha was bitter with yesterday’s ruling by  Court of Appeal judges Fatuma Sichale, Kathurima M’Inoti and Hannah Okwengu.  Twaha who lost to Timamy on March 4 declared he had been “robbed a second time” following the latest ruling. He announced he would be flying to Nairobi to try his luck in the Supreme Court.

“I was going to win this election by a landslide,” claimed Twaha in a telephone call to The Standard yesterday afternoon, referring to the now cancelled by-election.

“We are going to the Supreme Court (to overturn the Court of Appeal judgement). This was a bad ruling because we believe there was no election on March 4,” said Twaha.

But an exuberant Timamy declared immediately after the ruling that he felt vindicated by the three judges.

“God willing I will be in office tomorrow,” he declared outside the Law Courts in Malindi.

As Twaha’s supporters wept openly, Timamy went straight to a local mosque to pray and returned to address his supporters.

“We have been vindicated and justice has been done,” he said adding that court action; nullification and appeals had delayed his development programmes.