Former Trans Nzoia Senator Henry Ole Ndiema (in tie) outside Eldoret High Court on October 9, 2017. [Photo: Joe Khisa]
A case in which former Trans Nzoia Senator Henry Ole Ndiema is challenging August 8 election results in which he lost to Michael Mbito will be heard for 5 days beginning December 13 to 20th.The Eldoret High Court which will hear the case on Monday held a status conference where parties agreed on several matters among them the number of witnesses that will be used, the amount of time each party will be allocated and issues that will be determined by the case.It was agreed that the petitioner, Henry Ole Ndiema will be allowed to use seven witnesses to argue his case while the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) a first responded will have two witnesses and Senator Mbito three witnesses.Issues that the court will be seeking to determine in the case include; whether the election was conducted in accordance to the constitution and the law, whether election was tainted by irregularities, malpractices and illegalities, whether the Michael Mbito was validly elected as Senator of Trans Nzoia, whether the petitioner is entitled to relieve sought in the petition and who will bear the cost."This case will be heard from 13 December to 20 December 2017 on a daily basis beginning 9.00PM," said Eldoret High Court Judge George Kimondo.Justice Kimondo directed all the parties in the case to file their affidavits before 11 of October.Addressing the press outside the Eldoret High court, the former Senator expressed confidence that he has sufficient evidence to warrant nullification of his competitor's win."Trans Nzoia Senatorial elections were marred with irregularities, malpractices and illegalities details of which are in the petition and I think the grounds in it are strong enough," said Ole Ndiema.During the August 8 poll, IEBC declared Michael Mbito, a Jubilee candidate as the winner of the Trans Nzoia Senatorial seat after garnering 71,471 votes ahead of Ole Ndiema of Ford Kenya who had 70,846 votes.