Poll case: Wanga, Kidero to know fate in March

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga and former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero will know their fate on March 7 after the High Court concluded the hearing of an election petition challenging Ms Wanga's election.

Justice Roselyne Aburili ruled that the judgment will be delivered at 3pm.

In the petition, Mr Kidero is challenging the victory of Ms Wanga in the General Election held on August 9 last year. He claims the exercise was marred with malpractices and wants the court to nullify Wanga's win.

Kidero sued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Homa Bay County Returning Officer Fredrick Apopa, Wanga, Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga and ODM party as the first, second, third, fourth and fifth defendants, respectively.

Wanga was declared the winner with 244,559 votes against Kidero's 154,182 votes.

During the course of the proceedings, Kidero complained that there was collusion by IEBC officials to perpetrate wrongdoing, including election violence, thus denying him victory.

"There were malpractices in a number of polling stations which subverted the will of the people during the election. The process was not fair," the former Nairobi governor said.

But Wanga defended herself on grounds that Kidero could not prove that any irregularities that occurred favoured her. She argued that there was no evidence connecting her to the electoral violence that occurred.

"Your honour, the complaints raised here do not prove that I was involved in any violence. Any other irregularities also do not prove that I was favoured in any way. Kindly dismiss the case," the governor said.

The hearing process also culminated in the scrutiny and recount of votes in selected polling stations across eight constituencies in the county.

Homa Bay Deputy Registrar Joy Wesonga, who presided over the scrutiny and recount of votes, submitted her report to Justice Aburili who will use it to reach a verdict.