Supreme Court Dismisses Martha Karua’s Bid to Unseat Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Anne Waiguru as Kirinyaga Governor.

In a ruling read by Justice Isaac Lenaola on Tuesday, the judges dismissed the petition filed by Narc-Kenya Party leader Martha Karua, stating that she failed to prove her claims that there was bribery in the Kirinyaga gubernatorial election held on August 2017.

The judges further directed that each party bears costs of the proceedings at the High Court, Appeals Court, and Supreme Court.

Karua moved to the country’s highest court to appeal a decision by the Appellate Court to throw out her case challenging the election of Governor Waiguru.
Prior to moving to the Appeals Court, Kerugoya High Court dismissed Karua’s petition challenging the election of Waiguru on grounds that it lacked merit and ordered her to pay costs amounting to Sh5 million.

Waiguru was declared the winner of Kirinyaga Governor’s contest after garnering 153,353 votes (53 percent) ahead of Karua, who got 116,626 votes (41 percent) and incumbent Governor Joseph Ndathi who garnered 4,496.