Court halts vote re-count in Narok East

By Kurian Musa

Kenya: The Supreme Court has ruled that the vote re-count set for Narok East constituency at the Nakuru High Court is illegal and should not go on as planned.

In a ruling delivered last week by Justice Philip Waki, the Appeal Court set aside the High Court ruling that upheld Aramat Lemanken’s win as the area MP.

Harun Lempaka, a contestant in the last General Election in the constituency, successfully lodged his case and awaited the re-count by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on April 8.

Lemanken moved to the Supreme Court through lawyer Tom Ojienda and said the Appeal Court had no jurisdiction to order the re-count.

“We pray that you reverse the decision and uphold the rules of the court and constitutional rights of the appellant that are being violated,” Prof Ojienda submitted.

Justice Mohamed Warsame Thursday reversed the decision that required IEBC to re-count all votes cast in the constituency.

In the Appeal Court decision, Justice Waki found that Lempaka’s right had been denied.

“The petitioner had applied for a re-count and scrutiny and had the right to,” Waki said.

He said rule 32 of the Elections Act does not require a petitioner to provide sufficient reasons to ask for a re-count.