NO BY-ELECTION:The Kisii High court has annulled the election of Zebedeo Opore as Bonchari MP and declared the petitioner -Oroo Oyioka-the validly elected winner in the March 4 general election.
In the landmark judgment by trial judge Justice Ruth Sitati on Friday, the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was ordered to issue a certificate confirming Oroo Oyioka, 63, as the validly elected Bonchari MP.
Oyioka who contested for the seat on a Kanu ticket had filed the petition against the Ford People legislator, Opore, on grounds that the returning officer Peter Otieno had denied him a win by altering the result.
During the March 4 elections, Opore was declared winner by five votes after garnering 8,992 votes against Oyioka’s 8,987 votes. However, a recount and scrutiny ordered by the court revealed that Oyioka had garnered 8,967 against Opore’s 8,963 reflecting a margin of four votes.
Issuing her verdict, justice Sitati said ordering a fresh poll was equivalent to ordering a different election as the snapshot taken during the earlier poll will not be the same in the fresh poll as people’s opinions will have changed.
“Mounting and conducting an election is an expensive affair which is not fuelled by water but money raised through taxes.
The Kenyan taxpayer is already overburdened and so there is no reason for punishing them a second time as the voice of Bonchari residents has been heard,” she observed.-standardmedia.co.ke
