Sleepless nights are over for the Embu Governor Martin Wambora after he emerged victorious in a suit filed at the Supreme Court to challenge his 2017 election victory.
Delivering the ruling, Chief Justice David Maraga ruled that Wambora’s challenger and former Embu Senator, Lenny Kivuti, failed to prove his case.
Lenny moved to the Supreme Court to challenge a Court of Appeal’s verdict that had upheld Wambora’s win.
“Take notice that Mr Kivuti, being dissatisfied with the entire decision of the Court of Appeal on August 17, 2018 by appellate judge’s justices William Ouko, Daniel Musinga, and Fatuma Sichale, intends to appeal to the Supreme Court of Kenya against the whole of the said decision,” Kivuti’s lawyer, Tom Ojienda, stated.
Kivuti argued that Wambora had not been validly elected.The Court of Appeal had, however, argued that irregularities which had marred the elections could not be pinned on Wambora as he was only a candidate at the time.
“The burden of proof was not discharged by the petitioner and therefore the High Court erred in invalidating the Martin Wambora’s election as governor of Embu County,” stated the Court of Appeal Judges to their ruling.
They further claimed that the evidence the High court had used to make the ruling had not been officially presented in the court.
Wambora had moved to the Court of Appeal after the lower Court had nullified his election claiming that it was marred with irregularities.
High Court Justice William Musyoka had ruled that a recount and scrutiny had exposed a lot of irregularities in the results.