11 Members of the Uasin Gishu County Assembly have lost their seats following a High Court verdict that upheld the revocation of their nomination as ruled by a magistrate's court.
High Court Judge, Justice Stephen Riech, on Friday, agreed with the ruling that UDA did not follow the law when nominating the 11 MCAs.
In a ruling that was rendered on March 15, Chief Magistrate Mikoyan noted that the nominations were invalid because the ruling party and the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) relied on a list that had been declared null and void by the political parties’ tribunal.
As a result, the Magistrate ordered the party to de-gazette the list, which was published on September 9, 2022. He argued that an original list drafted on July 27 was legal and questioned why it was not approved.
“A declaration is hereby issued that the party list for UDA Uasin Gishu Member of County Assembly (Gender top up and marginalised) categories published by the IEBC vide Gazette notice No 10712 Vol CXXIV-No 186 dated September 9, 2022, is unlawful, null, and void,” the court ordered.
A petitioner, in conjunction with the political parties’ tribunal, opposed the nomination of the 11, stating that it excluded people living with disabilities (PWDs).
Chief Magistrate Mikoyan noted that justice needed to be served since UDA submitted an invalid list that was published on IEBC's website on July 27, 2022, days before the General Election.
The Court also observed that another list was published on August 24, 2023. However, the names of those who were on the first list had gone missing.
At the same hearing before Chief Magistrate Mikoyan, complainants claimed that IEBC ignored their concerns and duly relied on the list the political parties’ tribunal has since quashed.
“Which list did IEBC use to gazette the members who have been sworn into the assembly? The court finds that IEBC and UDA ignored a decision that came from the political parties’ tribunal on which list to use and went ahead and used a list that had been declared null and void,” Mikoyan stated.
In his orders, Chief Magistrate Mikoyan stated that the ideal approach would be to allow the United Democratic Alliance to implement orders by the Registrar of Political Parties fully.
“This means any Member of the County Assembly of Uasin Gishu who was gazette upon nomination based on the list that was published on August 24, 2022, was not validly elected by way of nomination.
"The only valid list is that of July 27, 2022. In conclusion, the county assembly of Uasin Gishu is only properly constituted as per the list that was gazetted on July 27. The gazetted MCAs were not validly elected by way of nomination," Chief Magistrate Mikoyan stated.
UDA Secretary General, Cleophas Malala, has yet to release a statement on the revocation of the 11 MCAs.
