The High Court in Embu has upheld the election of Moses Wamuthende after dismissing a petition that sought to nullify his victory over alleged electoral irregularities.
In its ruling, the court stated that although several procedural breaches and electoral anomalies were identified during scrutiny of the election materials, the petitioner failed to prove that the irregularities significantly influenced the final outcome of the poll.
Assisted Voter Rules Violated
A major issue examined by the court involved the handling of assisted voters during the election.
The judge found that electoral officials violated Regulation 72 of the Elections (General) Regulations after details of 1,072 assisted voters were not properly captured in the official physical register as required by law.
According to the court, the only records confirming the assisted voters were Forms 32, which contain declarations of secrecy signed during the voting process.
The court also established that six individuals breached electoral rules by assisting more than one voter, contrary to legal provisions that restrict a person to helping only one voter.
Irregularities Did Not Affect Final Result
Despite confirming the violations, the court ruled that there was no evidence showing which candidate benefited from the assisted votes.
The judge concluded that the irregularities, while concerning, were not substantial enough to overturn the election results or invalidate the will of voters.
“The decisive question is not whether each irregularity was individually pleaded, but whether the election taken as a whole complied with constitutional and statutory standards,” the court ruled.
Court Reaffirms Legal Threshold in Election Petitions
The judgment reiterated that election petitions must be determined strictly based on the issues presented before the court.
Citing previous Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions, including the Raila Odinga 2013 presidential petition and the Gatirau Peter Munya case, the judge emphasized that scrutiny exercises are meant to verify pleaded allegations and not introduce entirely new claims.
The court added that scrutiny findings may still be considered as part of the broader evidence in determining whether an election met constitutional standards of accountability, transparency, and verifiability.
Claims of Bribery and Interference Rejected
The petitioner had also raised allegations of voter bribery, unlawful interference with voter registers, mishandling of election materials, violence, misuse of public resources, and voter disenfranchisement.
While the court acknowledged evidence suggesting isolated cases of malpractice involving two witnesses, it ruled that the incidents were not widespread enough to substantially affect the outcome of the election.
Claims relating to violence, illegal handling of electoral materials, and third-party interference were also dismissed after the court found insufficient evidence linking them to the final result.
Election Found to Have Met Constitutional Standards
The judge acknowledged isolated irregularities, including a broken chain of custody at one polling station and unlawful alterations to voter registers in limited instances.
However, the court concluded that the election largely complied with constitutional and legal requirements governing elections in Kenya.
The petition was consequently dismissed after the court found it did not meet the legal threshold required to invalidate an election.
