The Homa Bay High Court has upheld Tom Odege’s election as Nyatike MP as there wasn’t sufficient proof to the contrary.
Judge Joseph Karanja ruled on Wednesday that Odege was validly elected on August 8 last year.
After the election, Odege was declared winner with 26,872 against petitioner Fredrick Ogenga’s 22,815.
In the petition, Ogenga was was Odege’s main rival expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the election was conducted.
He wanted the poll nullified on grounds that it was marred with irregularities.
But Justice Karanja argued that Ogenga’s petition lacked sufficient evidence that the MP was elected erroneously.
On December 12 last year, the judge ordered a recount of votes at 53 polling stations in Nyatike constituency. The recount revealed that Odege had 10,222 against Ogenga’s 9,923, a difference of 299 votes.
The judge said the recount was the only way to ascertain that Odege was not validly elected.
But Karanja said the petitioner failed to prove the errors and irregularities he noticed were grave enough to affect the final results.
He added: “Even if the recount was to be extended to the polling stations whose results were not substantially disputed, there would have been no significant impact on the final results.
“This court finds that the third respondent (Odege) was validly elected as an MP for Nyatike by receiving the greatest number of votes.”
Karanja dismissed the petition and ordered each party to meet his own costs.
