Obado retains his Migori Governor position By George Agimba Migori governor Zachary Okoth Obado has retained his seat after the high court in Homa Bay dismissed a petition challenging his election. High court judge Lady Justice Esther Maina ruled this morning that Mr. Obado won fairly and the evidence adduced by the petitioner Professor Edward Oyugi Akong’o was not credible. Mr. Obado who vied on a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ticket was represented by lawyer Roger Sagana while senior counsel Stephen Mwenesi led a team of lawyers for Prof. Akong’o. The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was represented by lawyer Murugu. In a judgment read to a fully packed court in less than 40 minutes, Justice Maina said she found most evidence produced before the court could not be used to change the election results and that “Mr. Obado’s election was valid.” Mr. Akong’o had filed the case challenging Obado’s election on accusation of voter bribery, violence,vote stealing and defective form 35. However, Justice Maina ruled that the court did not find any firm proof of the claims from either the petitioner or the witnesses he brought before the court. “Most of the claims made by the petitioners and the witnesses were common errors that affected both candidates. So they did not favour Obado alone,” she said. On the evidence presented by two journalists against Mr. Obado, the judge ruled that all were hearsay as the witnesses had admitted that they got the information from other sources. She also noted that the voting process was not flouted and that all the errors noted on the part of the IEBC officials were not deliberate, and therefore did not affect the results announced by the Returning Officers in some polling stations. “The law also does not bar IEBC Returning Officers from reading results from computers and so I find the accusations by the petitioner that the County Returning Officer read the results from a laptop not holding water,” Justice Maina said in her ruling. She ruled that Prof. Akongo’s witness Fred Omach contradicted his evidence and that she found him dishonest with his statistics regarding the disputed votes in one polling station. Justice Maina however ordered the IEBC to pay the costs of the suit. Addressing his supporters outside the court soon after the court verdict, governor Obado urged Migori residents to put aside politics and work in unity for the sake of development of the county. He thanked the court for the fair judgment saying it was the wish of the people of Migori that he be their leader. He assured them of his selfless service even to those who did not vote for him. The petitioner said he would abide by the judgment.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:54:23 +0000
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