Court nullifies the election of Babu Owino as Embakasi East MP

The High Court in Nairobi has nullified the election of Paul Ongili alias Babu Owino as the Embakasi East Member of Parliament.

In his ruling Justice Joseph Sergon indicated that Babu Owino was not validly elected further directing that a by- election be conducted in accordance to the law.

The court further ordered that Babu Owino and IEBC pay the petitioner Francis Mureithi, Ksh.2.5 million each.

The ruling comes after the High Court in Nairobi ordered a recount and scrutiny of votes on February 13, following a petition filed by Mr. Mureithi, his closest rival.

In his witness testimony on November 28, 2017, Mr. Mureithi claimed that the election exercise was marred with violence, intimidation, voter bribery among other electoral malpractices.

Following the recount, a report was filed in court by the deputy registrar on Monday, February 26 showing that Babu Owino won the disputed contest.

In the report after the recount, Babu Owino got 46,817 votes against the petitioner, Francis Mureithi, who garnered 42,501 votes.

Both Babu Owino and Francis Mureithi also registered an increase in votes after the recount was done.

The deputy registrar submitted that the scrutiny and recount exercise was by and large a success, except for a regrettable incident where one of the deputy registrar’s phone was stolen.