Lamu Governor Fahim Twaha has received a reprieve after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to overturn his win in the August 2017 general elections.
In the ruling, the judges said that the evidence in a petition filed by former Governor Issa Timamy is not sufficient to lead to the nullification of the win. The judges said that the win of the incumbent reflects the will of the people of Lamu.
They also admitted that there were minor errors in the results but insisted that they could not lead to the overturning of the win in order to pave way for a by-election as requested by Timamy.
“We are in agreement with the CA that the scrutiny report was considered and irregularities were appreciated."
The Judges said that the complainant was unable to prove to them allegations of impartiality in the outcome of the exercise after the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared Twaha as the winner of the exercise.
Court of appeal under the leadership Judge Alnasir Visram dismissed the case for lack of merit. The former county boss had cited massive illegalities and irregularities in the exercise.
He said that the voice of the people of Lamu had been ignored by the electoral body following his loss to Twaha, who won the seat on a Jubilee ticket.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also dismissed an appeal challenging the election of Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi after petitioner Mohamed Daibmoved to court to overturn his election.
Lady Justice Njoki Ndung’u said the petition challenging Mwinyi’s election in the 2017 parliamentary elections lacked merit.
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