Gatundu North Member of Parliament Wanjiku Kibe has lost her seat.
This is after the High Court on Wednesay October 7, 2020 ruled that election laws were violated during her election in the past 2017 general polls.
According to a ruling issued by Justice Weldon Korir, Wanjiku was still a Member of County Assembly during nominations made ahead of the polls.
The lawmaker had not yet resigned as a nominated MCA.
The Court has declared the Gatundu North parliamentary seat vacant, paving way for a by-election in the region.
The Supreme Court had in 2019 validated her election.
However, a new application filed at the High Court by her rival, Clement Kung’u Waibara early this year, wanted the court to declare the seat vacant.
Both Ms Kibe and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were named as respondents.
Mr Waibara, a former MP, claimed that Kibe did not qualify to vie for the seat since she had not resigned as a nominated MCA at the time of the polls.
She had been nominated by the now defunct The National Alliance (TNA) to the Kiambu County Assembly in 2013.
Waibara argued that Kibe was nominated by the Jubilee Party to contest for a parliamentary seat even when she was receiving all the benefits due to a seating MCA.
Waibara further argued that IEBC failed to discharge its mandate by allowing Kibe to contest for the seat, even when she was not qualified.
Waibara argued that the Constitution required sitting MCAs wishing to vie for elections as MPs to resign from their respective offices on, or before, the date of their application for nomination by political parties.
Kibe won the Gatundu North seat by garnering 39,447 votes against Waibara’s 9,390 votes.
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