Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti on Wednesday moved to the Court of Appeal protesting a ruling that stripped him off his gubernatorial seat on February 20.
Awiti filed a notice of appeal at the Kisumu appellate court through his advocate Tom Ojienda, insisting that he won the seat through a fair and credible election.
Last month, Justice Joseph Karanja stated that Awiti’s close contender Oyugi Magwanga, through evidence and sworn affidavits indeed proved to the court that the August 8 election was marred with discrepancies and violation of election laws.
Karanja stated that the IEBC had failed to ensure a free and fair election and therefore ordered the poll agency to conduct another fresh gubernatorial election in the devolved unit.
The IEBC had declared Awiti the winner with 210,173 votes against Magwanga's 189,060.
During the hearing, Oyugi informed the court that the figures from a parallel tally showed that he won with 224,863 votes against Awiti’s 174,235.
In the fresh legal battle expected at the Court of Appeal, the County boss and his aide Hamilton Orata have been listed as the first and second appellants respectively.
The electoral body (IEBC) has been named as the first respondent while the Returning Officer Homa Bay County Michael Kosgei, Oyugi Magwanga and his running mate Joshua Orero have been listed as the second, third and fourth respondents respectively.