Former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar's Petition challenging the election of Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has taken a new twist after the judge dismissed his application to withdraw the case.
Mombasa High Court Judge Lydia Achode ruled that the court will strictly comply with the law arguing that the grounds upon which Omar wants the case withdrawn was not convincing.
“This court notes that it is impartial and only guided by applicable laws in dealing with the petition, in addition, the issue of bias had been previously addressed substantially.
"This cannot be entertained since the court had already noted that it was impartially handling the matter to its logical conclusion," she noted.
Justice Achode further struck out an application seeking to have another judge handle the case following the claims that she was partisan.
[caption caption="Hassan Joho"]
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Omar through his lawyer Yusuf Abubakar had applied to the court seeking the withdrawal of the case arguing that the judge determining the matter was partisan.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission through their lawyer Bridgitte Ndong opposed withdrawal of the case, saying the respondents have incurred heavy costs pursuing the case.
“We submit that the petition be heard to its logical conclusion, the petitioners had the opportunity to explore alternative constitutional mechanisms to address issues of bias, but they failed,” she noted.
Mr Mohammed Balala, Governor Joho's lawyer also opposed the withdrawal, saying the petitioners had derailed the hearing of the matter through numerous applications, which they have responded to.
[caption caption="Hassan Omar and Governor Joho"]
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“The action of the petitioners is a conspiracy to abuse court process, some hurdles should be overcome before the matter is withdrawn, but the same would have embarrassing consequences,” he stated.
