Dr. Alfred Mutua during the court proceedings in Machakos High Court yesterday.[Photo/David Otini]
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua lost round one of election case against his victory in august 8 election.
Mutua has been dealt a major blow in the ongoing legal battle to defend his August 8 win against his fierce competitor, former Kathiani Member of Parliament Wavinya Ndeti.
Justice Aggrey Muchelule ruled that the grounds cited by Dr. Mutua seeking a declaration that Wavinya’s petition against his win was ‘irredeemably and fatally defective’, failed to meet the legal threshold to warrant the dismissal of the petition.
The judge said that Alfred Mutua will be the respondent in the petition because he was the one directly elected under the constitution.
“If the validity of the election of the governor is successfully contested in court, then both the deputy governor and the governor will leave the office. In my view the governor will be the respondent in the petition because he is the one directly elected under the constitution,” Justice Muchelule told The High Court of Machakos.
Wavinya who was represented by lawyers Atiende Amolo and Apollo Mboya celebrated the ruling and now they will be looking forward to the full hearing of the petition.
Mutua had previously filed an application to stop the Wavinya’s case saying that his deputy governor was not enjoined in the petition and said it lacked merit.