Court nullifies Nyansiongo MCA Dennis Kebaso election in Nyamira

By Stanley Ongwae | 1yr ago

A Nyamira Court has nullified the election of Dennis Kebaso as Nyansiongo MCA, citing manipulation of election results that led to his declaration as winner.

This is after three petitioners convinced the court that the elections were not free and fair besides being marred by irregularities.

Jackson Mogusu, Kevin Machungo, and Geoffrey Kambuni who vied in the contested polls had moved to Court to have Kebaso's victory annulled.

They breathed a sigh of relief after Senior Resident Magistrate Collins Ombija ordered a fresh poll and declared that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) failed to conduct free and fair polls in last year's polls.

"I further make a finding that the said malpractice in form of alterations and or overwriting on form 36 A occurred and is of a criminal nature. It was significant that it affected the final results. The evidence was clear," the magistrate ruled.

During the proceedings, Mogusu, a petitioner in the case had asked the court to nullify Kebaso's win and award him the certificate.

But the Court held that the irregularities amounted to election offenses which would render the entire exercise unconstitutional.

"It is a trite law that for an election to be invalidated for the reason of non-compliance with provisions of the constitution, the election act, and any other electoral law or that the noncompliance affected the results of the elections," the court ruled.

The applicants welcomed the decision of the court saying justice had been served.

"We are satisfied that the court has finally pronounced itself on the sham results that put the MCA into the office and we will now move to the ward to seek a fresh mandate," Mogusu said.

Kebaso who was the first respondent in the matter also said the verdict was good and that he never broke the law.

In the ruling, the returning officer and IEBC who were cited as second and third respondents in the petition were ordered to pay Sh400,000 each as costs of the petition.