PHOTO / FILE Former Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula consults with his
lawyer, Mr Amos Makokha after the High Court nullified his election. The
Judiciary has defended the move by the High Court Judge who nullified
the Bungoma Senate seat to furnish the Director of Public Prosecutions
with a report on his findings.
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Judiciary has defended the move by the High Court Judge who nullified the Bungoma Senate seat to furnish the Director of Public Prosecutions with a report on his findings.
Director for Public Affairs and Communication Naim Bilal Friday said Justice Francis Gikonyo did not blunder when he notified the Office of offences committed during the election of Moses Wetang'ula.
“The Judiciary seeks to clarify that the judgment in which Mr Wetang'ula’s election was invalidated was duly delivered by the judge on September 30,” Mr Bilal said in a statement.
He further explained that the judge duly issued a certificate as required by law under Section 86 of the Elections Act notifying Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of the outcome of the petition.
“Since an electoral offence was pointed out in the judgment, a certificate was duly issued as provided for under Section 87 of the Elections Act to notify the DPP to take action,” he said adding that the certificate was served on the DPP on October 9.
The Act empowers the court, at the conclusion of the hearing of an election petition, to send a report to the DPP indicating whether an election offence has been committed by any person in connection with the election and the names and descriptions of the persons who have been proved at the hearing to have been guilty of an election offence.
The election
of the Bungoma County Senator was challenged in the Bungoma High Court -
Election Petition 3 of 2013. In the course of the hearing of the
petition, the court found that the offence of bribery was proved to have
been committed.
The Bungoma by-election will be held on December 19.
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