The High Court in Embu has officially upheld the election of as the legitimate Member of Parliament for after dismissing a petition that sought to overturn his by-election victory.
In a decisive ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice R. Mwongo found that the case filed by rival candidate failed to meet the legal threshold required to nullify the election results, bringing to an end months of political uncertainty in the constituency.
Ndwiga had moved to court alleging that the by-election was riddled with violence, KIEMS kit failures, voter register manipulation and irregular handling of election materials. The petition accused the and election officials of presiding over a flawed process that allegedly compromised the credibility of the poll.
However, after examining the evidence presented before the court, Justice Mwongo ruled that although certain irregularities were identified during the election, they were isolated incidents that did not substantially affect the final outcome.
The court acknowledged that violence had erupted at Gitiburi and Kaungu polling stations, leading to a drop in voter turnout at Kaungu, but maintained that the disturbances were not widespread enough to overturn the will of the electorate. The judge further noted that while an election official unlawfully interfered with the voter register after the system had been frozen, the incident affected only one voter and therefore could not invalidate the overall results.
Claims regarding inconsistencies in Forms 35A and 35B were also dismissed after the court concluded that the errors amounted to careless tallying mistakes rather than deliberate fraud intended to manipulate the outcome.
Even as the court upheld Wa Muthende’s victory, Justice Mwongo raised concern over several electoral malpractices uncovered during the proceedings. The judge directed that findings touching on possible criminal conduct be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further investigations and possible prosecution under Section 87 of the Elections Act.
The court particularly flagged unauthorized alteration of the voter register by an IEBC official, illegal multiple assistance of voters by certain election staff and failure by polling officials to properly document assisted voters in official registers.
With the petition now dismissed, Deputy Registrar Hon. M. N. Kinyua has signed the certificate confirming as the duly elected MP for . The certification is expected to be transmitted to , officially closing the legal chapter surrounding the by-election.
While Wa Muthende shifts focus back to parliamentary duties, pressure is now mounting on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to take action against election officials implicated in the court’s findings.
