Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino on Thursday got his first win from the High Court in an election petition filed against him by Jubilee politician Francis Mureithi.
The Court allowed Mr Owino to file his responses to the petition challenging his win during the August 8 election despite the fact that he was time-barred.
Conveying the victory on his Twitter handle, the MP shared a dramatic photo of himself kneeling in front of a church and captioned it: "We've won the 1st battle of the petition against me as the current Embakasi East MP. The court will admit all our responses. Glory be to God!"
There were fears that the lawmaker could lose his seat after it emerged that he had failed to file his responses in time as directed by the court.
Mr Mureithi filed the case seeking the nullification of Babu's win after the MP failed to respond to the petition on time.
"It's now over 12 days from the service of the petition upon Mr Owino and no steps have been taken.
"The only inference to make in the circumstances is that Mr Owino has conceded to the petition. No excuse is available to him for non-compliance," Mureithi's lawyers told the court.
Read More: Babu Owino Risks Losing MP Seat on Court Order
The Jubilee politician had further argued that the delay by Mr Owino was in breach of Supreme Court guidelines regarding election petitions.
Owino's lawyers, Edwin Sifuna and Jackson Awele, pleaded with the Court to allow the applications citing that they did not notice the service orders when they were issued.
"It is our submission that the late filing can't prejudice the petition as our action is reasonable and has a strong basis," the lawyers argued.
Read More: Why Babu Owino Could Lose His Seat
[caption caption="Jubilee politician Francis Mureithi"]
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The case will now be heard and determined by the court at a later date.
