Blow to ODM as courts nullify election of 2 MPs

Denis Mwangi 12:10 - 03 March 2023

Raila Odinga at a past political rally

The ODM party has suffered a blow after the courts nullified the election of two of the party’s MPs

The High Court in Malindi overturned the election of Harrison Garama Kombe as Magarini MP.

United Democratic Alliance candidate Stanley Kenga filed a petition challenging Kombe’s election.

The court ruled that the election should be nullified due to numerous irregularities, such as voter stuffing, manipulation of results, and other irregularities that favoured the winner declared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Magarini MP Harrison Garama Kombe

Away from Magarini, the courts also nullified the election of Lagdera MP Abdikadir Hussein.

Abdikadir was declared the winner of the Lagdera parliamentary seat after garnering 5,939 votes against his closest rival Abdiqani Zeitun of UDA who managed 4,863 votes.

Abdiqani successfully convinced the court that the election was marred by malpractices that favoured the incumbent MP.

The two rulings are set back to the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja coalition which is the minority coalition in the National Assembly.