Jubilee's Wanjiku Kibe Loses Seat As Gatundu North MP

The High Court in Kiambu on Thursday declared as invalid, null and void the election of  Wanjiku Kibe as Gatundu North Member of Parliament.

In his ruling, Justice Joel Ngugi said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) committed illegalities and irregularities in the conduct of the poll.

Consequently, the electoral commission was ordered to pay Sh3 million to Wanjiku and a further Sh1.5 million to the petitioner Clement Waibara, a former area MP.

Justice Ngugi said the irregularities and illegalities rendered the process as not free and fair. The court, however, absolved Wanjiku of any wrongdoing.

“The first respondent simply offered herself for the election as a candidate and diligently did her campaign. She is a victim of the second respondent’s (IEBC’s) failure as much as the people of Gatundu North constituency are,” said the judge. 

Justice Ngugi ruled that although Mr Waibara, who contested as an independent candidate, failed to prove most of his claims, the manner in which the election was conducted raised questions over its credibility.

One of the key irregularities discovered in the process included loss of four unused ballot booklets, each with 50 ballot papers, from Mungai, Kawira and Mang’u polling stations.

Kibe joins Alfred Keter of Nandi Hills, Chris Karani of Ugenya, Markawet East's Kangogo Bowen and Lamu West's Stanley Muthama in the list of MPs who have lost their seats.