Embakasi South MP Julius Mawathe loses seat
Former Embakasi South MP Irshad Sumra. His election petition against Julius Mawathe was successful and a by-election will be held on April 5, 2019. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Embakasi South MP Julius Musili Mawathe of Wiper party has lost his seat.
The Court of Appeal on Friday quashed Mr Mawathe’s August 2017 election win following an appeal lodged by his rival Irshad Sumra of the Orange Democratic Movement.
In his petition, Mr Sumra blamed the electoral commission for his defeat, saying the returning officer “declared the loser as the winner and the winner the loser.”
Mr Mawathe was declared the winner of the poll after IEBC said he garnered 33,880 against Mr Sumra’s 33,708 votes.
In his petition and appeal, Mr Sumra cited malpractices, irregularities, illegalities and or noncompliance of the law, which he argued had an effect on the results announced.
The court agreed with him that that there was a serious mix-up of votes during counting at some tallying centres.
Justices Daniel Musinga, Mohamed Warsame and Kathurima M'inoti noted that the returning officer admitted anomalies during the hearing but the court chose to ignore.
According to the judges, the results cannot be verified, hence the nullification.
Mr Sumra moved to the second-highest court in the land after the High Court on March 2 upheld the election of Mr Mawathe.
While dismissing Mr Sumra case, Justice Grace Nzioka said the petitioner failed provide sufficient evidence and slapped him with Sh3-million invoice in costs.
