Karua loses bid to present new evidence in poll appeal

Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has lost her bid to introduce new evidence in the case she has filed challenging the High Court verdict which upheld the election of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru.

Court of Appeal Judges Roselyn Nambuye, Hannah Okwengu, and Gatembu Kairu struck out the evidence saying Ms Karua has not provided sufficient grounds to show why the evidence should be allowed.

“The new evidence will be prejudicial to the main appeal if allowed at this stage,” the judges said.

The new evidence, contained in a flash disk, had been rejected by the High Court but Ms Karua felt it was important in the appeal.

OPPOSED

But the request to include it was opposed by Ms Waiguru and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), saying it may result in the case taking a totally new angle.

The hearing of the appeal was earlier temporarily delayed after two judges of the Court of Appeal, Fatuma Sichale and Sankale ole Kantai, withdrew from the petition hearing, citing their close relationship with Ms Karua.

The judges said their presence in the hearing would create a perception of bias.

Ms Karua lost the election to Ms Waiguru during the August 8, 2017 elections but challenged the outcome.

This is the second time she is filing an appeal.

Her case was first dismissed early this year but the Court of Appeal overturned the decision and ordered the petition to be heard afresh.

SECOND APPEAL

Justice Lucy Gitari heard the petition and dismissed it, necessitating the second appeal.

While lodging her appeal, Ms Karua said Justice Gitari was biased in hearing the petition and argued that the decision to dismiss the case was a miscarriage of justice.

She filed six bundles of documents with 31 grounds which she said she would use to convince the appellate judges that Ms Waiguru was not validly elected.

Ms Karua complained that Justice Gitari summarily excluded electronic evidence presented by her witnesses in the petition.

She said some of the evidence was given to her by IEBC.

“The judge failed to find that the electoral commission’s wilful refusal and failure to give me access to the Kiems kits, as ordered by the court, gravely prejudiced my case. Justice Gitari failed to appreciate the true purpose of scrutiny in the fair determination of an election petition,” argued Ms Karua.

The main appeal will now be heard on October 1.