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Narok high court nullifies nomination of Jubilee MCA

Justice Gikonyo said the MCA was not a member of the Jubilee party at the time she was nominated.

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by KURGAT MARINDANY

News07 September 2023 - 11:29
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In Summary


  • While delivering the ruling on Wednesday, Justice Francis Gikonyo said MCA was not a member of the Jubilee party at the time she was nominated to the county assembly and not a registered voter in the county.
  • Gikonyo has also found out that the MCA failed to inform the registrar of political parties that she has resigned from ODM.
Lawyer Martin Kamwaro with Josephine during a press conference in Narok town.

The High Court in Narok has thrown out an appeal by Jubilee nominated MCA Alice Kering after the magistrate court nullified her nomination to the Narok county.

While delivering the ruling on Wednesday, Justice Francis Gikonyo said MCA was not a member of the Jubilee party at the time she was nominated to the county assembly and not a registered voter in the county.

He said that during that time, Kering was a member of the ODM party which nominated her to the Nakuru county assembly between 2017 and 2022.

Gikonyo has also found out that the MCA failed to inform the registrar of political parties that she has resigned from ODM.

During the court process, Kering only presented a resignation letter.

The court ordered that Josphine Seneyio Torome, who presented the petition in the magistrate court, be nominated to the position.

During the magistrate ruling in March, the Narok Senior Resident Magistrate Ms Phyllis Shinyada said there was not enough evidence from the Registrar of Political Parties that she had resigned from the ODM Party to join the Jubilee party before the required deadline.

The Magistrate said the nomination to the County Assembly should reflect the diversity of the people of that county and not an outsider brought and imposed to represent the interest of the people she has not interacted with.

The magistrate directed the first petitioner (IEBC) and second petitioner (Ms Kering) to bear the cost of the petition amounting to Sh600,000.

Josephine claimed that the MCA was not a member of the Jubilee party at the time the nomination list was being handed over to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

In her petition, Torome named IEBC as the first respondent, Alice Chepkirui Kering as the second respondent, Jubilee Party third respondent, the County Assembly of Narok fourth respondent, Speaker County Assembly fifth respondent and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party as the sixth respondent.

In her submissions to the court, the respondent said she quit the ODM party in June 2022 and joined the Jubilee party.

Immediately after the ruling, Kamwaro said the judgment was a reward to the people of Narok, who were not well represented in the County Assembly.

He called on the IEBC to gazette Josephine, who was the second in the gender top list in the Jubilee party as directed by the court.

The lawyer added that the ruling should serve as a lesson to the people who are fond of not following the law.

On her part, Josephine felt that justice had been served to the minority people in Narok County.

 Torome said she has been a member of the Jubilee party since 2012 and she was ready to continue fighting for her party to ensure justice was served to the members.

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