Supreme Court Ruling Which Saw ODM MP Who Won Election With 21 Votes Gap Lose Seat

The Supreme Court of Kenya has upheld the nullification of the Magarini Constituency election results, meaning that Harrison Garama officially lost his seat as Magarini Member of Parliament.

In the ruling made on Friday, May 31, the five-judge bench upheld the Appellate Court's decision that Garama's election was invalid as the election was not conducted per the Constitution.

“The Court finds no error in the determination by the Court of Appeal that the 1st respondent met the standard of proof thereby discharging the burden of proof and establishing that indeed there was non-compliance with the Constitution and the law or that the noted irregularities and illegalities did affect the final result, based separately on both limbs of Section 83 of the Elections Act,” read part of the ruling.

The High Court had nullified Kombe’s election on the grounds that there were glaring irregularities that affected the results before the Court of Appeal affirmed the decision.

In September 2022, Stanley Kenga, who was contesting the seat under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket moved to the High Court challenging the election of Garama Kombe as the Magarini lawmaker.

In his petition, Kenga argued that his agents were denied access to 4 polling stations and that the number of votes cast for 6 electoral seats in 2 polling stations differed.

He further claimed instances of vote padding and manipulation in 4 polling stations and that Garama through his officers, committed electoral offences throughout the election.

While determining the case, the High Court found out the allegations levelled against Garama were valid leading to the nullification of his election. This forced Garama to escalate the matter to the Court of Appeal.

However, the Appellate Court also upheld the High Court's ruling, further dashing his hopes of retaining the seat. Garama did not give up though and moved the matter to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court again upheld the decisions by the two lower courts, in favour of Kenga, which now means that the Independent and Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has to organise a by-election.

"The 2nd respondent shall forthwith declare the seat of the Member of the National Assembly for Magarini Constituency vacant and proceed to conduct a by-election in accordance with the law," the Supreme Court ruled.

"Costs capped at Kshs2,000,000 are awarded to the 1st respondent to be paid by the appellant. We hereby direct that the sum of Ksh6,000 deposited as security for costs upon lodging of this appeal be refunded to the appellant."