Embu Governor Martin Wambora further cemented his reputation as the proverbial cat with nine lives on Friday after the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling nullifying his election as Governor.
The three-judge bench upheld Wambora's election and revised the costs of the petition set by the High Court in February.
“There is no doubt that the errors affected the final outcome of the election. I have come to the conclusion that there were irregularities and errors during the counting and tallying of votes. The results cannot be said to be credible, verifiable and reflecting the will of the people of Embu," Justice William Musyoka ruled at the time.
The Friday ruling is certainly not the first time Wambora was on the ropes before being seemingly saved by a miracle.
He made unwanted history by becoming the first Governor to be impeached in Kenya in 2014.
[caption caption="Governor Martin Wambora"]
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An 11-member Special Senate committee found him guilty of flouting public procurement laws after Members of the Embu County Assembly (MCAs) passed an impeachment motion against him.
He was, however, reinstated by a Kerugoya Court on April 16, 2014 which declared the ouster "null and void", with the Judge explaining that “had the Senate investigated Wambora's case, it would discover it was done in violation of the court order in the County Assembly.”
Barely two weeks later, Embu MCAs launched another attempt to remove the Governor as they passed another impeachment motion over alleged financial impropriety, flouted tender rules and abuse of office.
Yet again, Senators backed the ouster with 35 senators out of 47 voting in favour of a report of the special committee tasked with investigating the allegations.
The Court of Appeal, however, nullified the impeachment in December 2015 ruling that there was no solid evidence that Wambora acted in gross violation of the Constitution warranting his impeachment.
In the run-up to the August 2017 elections, Wambora made a statement as he won the Jubilee Party primaries, trouncing former Runyenjes MP Cecily Mbarire by 60,634 votes to her 43,509.
In addition, the electorate backed him up by sending home a vast majority of the MCAs who supported the impeachment motions against Wambora, forcing many to contest on other parties' tickets in the Jubilee stronghold.
After he was elected Embu Governor in the August 8, 2017 polls, his main rival Lenny Kivuti moved to court seeking to stop Wambora from assuming office.
Kivuti, however, chose to withdraw the petition after the High Court in Embu rejected his bid to stop the gazettement of Wambora and his swearing-in ceremony set for August 17.
[caption caption="Governor Martin Wambora"]
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