Turkana East MP Mohammed Lokiru survives petition

The Court of Appeal has upheld election victory of Turkana East MP Mohammed Lokiru.

Judges Erastus Githinji, Fatuma Sichale and Hannah Okwengu, sitting in Eldoret, on Thursday ruled that the petitioner, former MP Nicholas Ngikor, failed to adduce enough evidence to prove his claim that the poll was marred by irregularities.

Mr Ngikor, who came second in the August 2017 polls, had sought nullification of Mr Lokiru’s win citing massive malpractices.

Mr Ngikor had claimed election officers were biased, with some having connections with Turkana county government officers.

But the appellate judges ruled that Mr Ngikor did not prove that the irregularities affected the outcome of elections.

“There was no burden of proof that there was bias and nepotism. There might have been bias but only two polling stations were affected therefore the minor infractions did not affect outcome of elections,” said Justice Githinji, who read the ruling on behalf of the bench.

Mr Lokiru, who was accompanied by his lawyer Philip Nyachoti, lauded the court’s decision, saying he had wasted over a year fighting the election petition.

He said the people of Turkana County will not allow transportation of oil from the region until the government assures them of their security.

“All the agreements we made with the government should be fulfilled. Failure of which there will be no oil from Turkana. We want our people to benefit from this resource in their locality,” he said