Yatta MP, Charles Kilonzo in a past function. (Photo-Africa Review)]
The High Court has dismissed with costs an application seeking to strike out a petition challenging the election of Yatta MP, Charles Kilonzo.
Justice Aggrey Muchelule, sitting in Machakos also ruled that the case in which former Yatta MP Francis Mwangangi is challenging Kilonzo’s election will have to proceed to conclusion. In his petition, the former legislator claims the Yatta parliamentary election held on August 8 was marred with massive illegalities and irregularities. He filed the case seeking a declaration seeking a declaration that the results were invalid, null and void. But the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) filed a notice of preliminary objection on grounds the petition was ‘fatally defective’ as had not been filed within the stipulated 28 days as required in Section 76 of the Elections Act. Charles Kilonzo, who is listed in the petition as the third respondent also supported the objection by IEBC by filing an affidavit in the same court. In yesterday’s ruling, the court held that the date of declaration of Yatta parliamentary results-which formed the basis of the Motion to have the case struck out, had been contested by the petitioner. “The preliminary objection by the first and the second respondent cannot be sustained because it’s founded on contested factual information which has to be tested by normal rules of evidence. And because the dates of declaration of results of Yatta parliamentary election is a contested issue, the matter cannot be determined at this interlocutory stage,” Justice Muchelile said.