Kwale Women Representative Zulekha Juma (R) addressing journalists outside the Mombasa Law Courts. [Photo/Maxwell Ngala].
The Mombasa High Court has upheld Kwale Women Representative Zulekha Juma’s win in the August 8 election.In her ruling on Thursday, High Court Judge Njoki Mwangi dismissed the petitioner Omar Mwakaole, a voter in Kwale, terming him a 'political idler and a busybody who did not know what he wanted in the petition'.Mwangi said Mwakaole, who was represented by lawyer Makaya Oweya, deliberately wasted the court’s time in the petition.The petitioner is said to have violated rules 8 and 12 of the elections rules by failing to deposit Sh500,000 required to register the petition.“Mwakaole only registered the petition and went to sleep until he was woken up by the respondent two months later after Mrs Juma filed a nullification application,” said Mwangi.The Judge further said that Mwakaole lacked any basic information to be relied on by the court, adding that the petition was purely baseless.“Mwakaole told the court that the Kwale Women Representative August 8 election was marred by malpractices but he failed to depict the malpractices in the petition. The court will not entertain such hearsay,” said Mwangi.She said the petitioner later sought an extension of time to deposit the registration fee claiming that he was sick, but failed to convince the court through a valid letter from a doctor that he was really sick.The Judge said Juma was validly elected as the Kwale Women Representative on an ODM ticket and ordered Mwakaole to pay Sh1 million to Juma and another 1 million to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which was the second respondent.Juma through her lawyer Japheth Asige thanked the court for delivering justice.