Reprieve for Gatundu North MP as nullification of election suspended

 

The Court of Appeal has suspended the decision by the High Court that nullified Gatundu North MP Anne Wanjiku's election.

Wanjiku, through her lawyer Prof Tom Ojienda, had filed a notice of appeal, saying she was dissatisfied with Justice Weldon Korir's judgement that declared her seat vacant.

On October 7, Korir declared her seat vacant, ruling that she was not validly elected because she was still an MCA when she was nominated to vie for MP.

Justices Martha Koome, Daniel Musinga and Sankale Ole Kantai have stayed Justice Korir's judgment pending the determination of her appeal.

"Pending the hearing and determination of this application, this honorable court issues an order restraining the Speaker of the National Assembly and IEBC from any consequential acts in execution of the judgement of Justice Weldon Korir delivered on 7th October 2020," the order reads.

The court noted that in ordinary appeals, the lodging of a notice of appeal operates as an automatic stay of the judgment of the High Court." The same reasoning should apply here where the issue in contention is whether the election of the Member of Parliament for Gatundu North Constituency should stand," they ruled.

Wanjiku had argued that the Speaker of the National Assembly is bound by timelines set in law to advise IEBC to hold a by-election if the judgment is not stayed.

"If that happens and a by-election is held and the intended appeal succeeds it would create a situation not at all in the public interest, the appeal would be rendered nugatory," the judges ruled.