The Supreme Court has dismissed all election litigations filled by Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua against Governor Anne Waiguru.
In a ruling delivered in Nairobi, the court determined that all election matters (within the Kenyan courts) were concluded in the Supreme Court judgment of August 6, 2019.
Governor Waiguru who was the appellant in the matter had moved to the Supreme Court to challenge a Court of Appeal’s decision to take Karua’s election petition to the High court for hearing on merit even after it had been dismissed.
Kerugoya High Court Judge Lucy Gitari had earlier dismissed Karua’s petition on grounds that it lacked merit.
In the petition, Justices Philomena Mwilu, Mohammed Ibrahim, Njoki Ndungu, Smokin Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola, agreed with Governor Waiguru that the issues raised by Karua were the same as those raised in Petition No. 3 of 2019.
The judges found that the issues were fully determined in the same Court’s ruling delivered on March 2, 2018, which advised parties to follow the normal appellate mechanism in addressing their grievances.
Waiguru had argued that the High Court had no jurisdiction to hear and determine Karua’s election petition after the lapse of the six months prescribed by Article 87(1) of the Constitution and Section 75(2) of the Elections Act.
“A declaration be and is hereby issued that the issues raised in Petition No. 5 of 2018: Hon. Anne Mumbi Waiguru and another vs. Hon. Martha Wangari Karua and two others were fully determined by this Honourable Court in its judgment delivered on 6th August 2019 in Petition No. 3 of 2019: Hon. Martha Wangari Karua vs. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and three others,” the five judges said.
The Supreme Court also rejected Karua’s attempts to obtain costs for the case from Waiguru on the initial Court of Appeal case where she had been awarded costs.
The judges ruled that since Karua had lost the other eight petition cases against the governor, each party should bear its own cost. This is the eighth decision that has been rendered by the courts on the petition.
Waiguru speaking to the media over the dismissal said there is a God in heaven who is just and always stand with the truth.
She said she won the last general election with a big margin of votes and those who have been filing petitions to challenge her win were doing it in vain.
“I would wish we forget the past and concentrate on development for the remaining one year, we can’t play politics from the morning to the evening, time for politics is coming, but for now, lets us try to deliver the promises we made to our people when they voted us into office” she said.
By Irungu Mwangi
